The Ragnarok
by Silent Child
Summary: They worked for an underground organization of bounty hunters. Time after time, they took care of threats to Rune-Midgard. But this time, their target isn't anything of the ordinary...it's a boy who knows the key to the next Ragnarok. /revised!/
1. Chasing Ghosts

**Summary:** They worked for an underground organization of bounty hunters. Time after time, they took care of threats to Rune-Midgard. But this time, their target isn't anything of the ordinary; it's a boy who knows the key to the next Ragnarok.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ragnarok Online. :P But the characters in this story belong to my friends and I.

**Author's Note:** I'm back with a revision of The Ragnarok! W00t! There have been some changes (mostly the fight scenes and some dialogue...also the new "Wings Armada" group), and improved technical writing, so I suggest to those who have read this before read it again. Sorry for the trouble. DX

Ah, yes, an important fact: I changed some things just a little concerning the rules of Ragnarok Online (such as...I gave the Thief class the Cloaking ability). It's not a big change though.

**Another very important note concerning the rules of Ragnarok:** firstly, this is an older work. I know that Ragnarok is constantly changing, with new classes, cities, and whatnot...so this story will mostly follow the 'older' version of Ragnarok. There are no Super Novices or Expanded Classes for now.

I also apologize in advance for any strange errors that might have occured when I uploaded this.

Anyways, enough of my long author's note (it'll be shorter in other chapters!) on with the story! XD

-x-

**The Ragnarok**

-x-**  
**

**Chapter One: Chasing Ghosts**

Rya clenched her fists together as a foul smell reached her nose. The musky air was utterly disgusting, but she had to bear with it and follow the orders of her division leader, Payon. She cast a small glance at her other friends and companions: Miraka, Paroid, Skoo, and Evol. They all shared the same sentiment. Rya saw Miraka wrinkle her nose at the repulsive smell.

"Now, if you don't mind me asking, why the _hell_ do we have to come here again?" The purple-haired Thief pinched her nose with a gloved hand, trying to block out the stench.

"That boy has been here," Payon said as he crouched down, unsheathing his sword. Though named after the famous training grounds for beginning Archers, the young boy walked his path to Knighthood instead. He inspected the freshly altered dirt; someone had passed by before them. "That's what Spades said."

"This is complete _bullshit_! Why would you find him in a massive dump of graffiti, an abandoned school, and a shit load of pots?" Paroid questioned dryly, swinging his Claymore around in boredom. The Swordsman with short dirty blonde hair neatly sliced several pots, which were oddly littered everywhere, in half. "The boss-monkey must be out of his mind. He doesn't trust us with any real work so he's sending us out to look for ghosts!"

"I don't know why he chose this area," The spiky, crimson-haired leader confessed. "But...I can feel that there's something wrong here too. I trust Spades. Evol and Miraka, you guys go scout ahead."

"Feel what?" Evol asked, approaching the old building. "I just feel nauseous!"

His Wizard's cloak billowed out behind him once he opened the aged doors of the school. Dust poured in from the ceiling, prompting him to cough and shield his face with his cloak before entering.

"Wait up!" Miraka cried out as she swiftly ran inside after him, dangerously waving her stilettos around to catch his attention.

Rya looked around at her surroundings as she flipped her pale red hair out of her eyes. She, too, had her doubts about this particular area. What could the leader of their Guild possibly suspect about a long abandoned school in the middle of nowhere? They had been ordered to search for a boy who held "key information to Rune-Midgard's future". Rya couldn't help but wonder why the boy be in the particular area they had been sent to. There had to be _plenty_ of other more secretive locations. Though it was an abandoned school, it was a well-known location since it once had been a very popular school for Mages and Wizards. As the graffiti on the school walls suggested, there were some people who still frequented the area.

Suddenly, a fierce battle cry graced Rya's ears, countered by Evol's own screams of curse words. She heard explosions and followed the cries into the rundown school, Payon and the others right behind her.

"Evol! Miraka!"

Rya ran through the hallways, searching for the two. The area was dark, save for tiny rays of sunlight peeking in through cracks in the ancient building. 'They couldn't have gone too far!'

"Have you got a lead as to where they are?" Payon questioned as he caught up with the Hunter.

"Yeah," Rya heard a series of explosions coming from a certain door as she concentrated intensely. Her blue eyes darted around the halls as they ran. "The cafeteria!"

Rya cleared the old wooden doors away when she came smashing through them. What met her eyes was a fierce battle scene: Miraka was hacking away at a wall of ice that halved the battlefield, and Evol was on the other side engaged in combat. Through the clear ice, Rya saw Evol coughing up blood, staining his uniform deep shades of red. He seemed determined to defeat an opposing boy with bright red hair, dressed in the same manner as him. As they continued their fight, Rya, Payon, Skoo and Paroid went ahead to help destroy the barrier of ice.

"_Fireball_!" The blue-haired Evol chanted up his favorite fire spell and blasted the enemy Wizard, but the boy disappeared.

"I don't believe it!" Payon exclaimed, a sudden realization hitting him head on. Spades had told him some details of the boy's abilities, but he didn't really believe his boss until he witnessed it with his own eyes. "It really is true; he's combined all the classes together! He's using the cloaking ability!"

The boy reappeared in front of Evol, punching him in the gut. Evol gasped for breath as he fell to his knees. The boy grinned. "You've caught on quickly, Knight, unlike your slow friends over here."

"So this is the brat. Combining classes together?" Paroid muttered, taking up his sword. "Are you trying to be godly? What a waste of my time; eat shit! _Bash_!"

Paroid used great force as he plunged his sword forward, but missed the swift boy by a foot.

"Too slow!" The boy smirked, and sped around the abandoned cafeteria, stopping beside a dirty table.

"Try me!" Skoo ran up to the boy, swinging his axe down with all the force he could muster.

The boy soared over Skoo and somersaulted in midair to deliver a hard kick to his back. The Blacksmith gave out a yelp as he fell to his knees, pain spreading through his back. The redheaded boy grinned again, stepping on the pained Skoo and jumping off him in order to hurdle over an angry Paroid running towards him.

"_Double Strafe_!" Rya cried out. She quickly pulled two arrows from her arrow case and shot them just below the boy as he was landing. She was sure that the boy would fall into her attack. Instead, the boy sprung up in an instant upon touching the floor, jumping out of harm's way. The two arrows embedded themselves in the ground where he was a split second ago. The boy retaliated by chucking a round table at her. Rya ducked as the flying object whistled past her head.

Miraka sprung into action, using her own swiftness to catch up to him, nearly striking him with her sharp stilettos. The boy evaded her attack neatly by jumping onto the long tables. Miraka was hot on his trail, until he unexpectedly picked up and slammed a chair in her face, knocking her to the ground.

The boy smirked and dashed off the tables, flinging the same chair at Evol, who was quietly advancing on him. He abruptly stopped and pulled out his sword from its sheath, which was concealed under his cloak. Skoo skidded to a stop in his pursuit; the blade was inches before his chest. The boy sent a roundhouse kick to Skoo's chest and pointed his sword towards Paroid. Before Paroid could react, the boy chanted something under his breath, causing fire to blast out of the blade. Paroid barely dodged it and the flames licked at his cape, catching it on fire.

"_Stop, drop, and roll_!" The boy laughed in amusement, watching Paroid attempt to smother the hungry flames by furiously stamping on his cape.

"Stop toying with us and tell me, why are you here?" Payon growled, challenging the boy to a one-on-one sword combat. He brandished his sword, holding it steady in front of himself.

"That is no business of yours, Knight," The boy laughed again, easily throwing Payon's sword out of his hands and knocking him to the ground. Pointing his sword at Payon, a quick spell left his mouth and a shower of arrows rained down onto the crimson-haired Knight. Payon rolled across the floor quickly, but three arrows managed to find a target on his arm. Payon flinched in pain and held back a scream.

Miraka let out a yell as she came up behind the boy and slammed a table down on him; the table snapped in half upon contact. For a minute, he seemed dazed, but he quickly recovered and kicked Miraka away before summoning a firewall to protect himself.

Rya took the chance to fire away a series of arrows at his unguarded side. The boy's quick reflexes saved him: he performed a neat back flip, avoiding the barrage of arrows. He then charged at Rya, firing a fireball directly at her face, sending her flying backwards. The boy advanced on her, ready to swing his sword down.

Spluttering, Rya recovered as fast as she could from the attack and grabbed a concealed dagger from a pouch on her thigh. In one fluid motion, the Huntress stabbed the boy in the arm before he could slice her. The boy howled in pain from the surprise attack. Skoo took the chance to run towards the distracted boy and return the sharp kick to the back he had first experienced. It sent him flying over Rya and into a stack of chairs.

"Burn in hell! _Fire pillar_!" Evol hollered, aiming a powerful fire spell at the boy as he staggered onto his feet in the midst of upturned chairs. A blazing inferno roared up from the boy's feet and engulfed him in flames.

"Let's take this chance and regroup outside!" Paroid demanded. "You and Payon are hurt!"

"No! You go!" Evol shook his head, stubborn as always. "I have to finish him off! We're not done our job yet!"

"Evol!" Miraka pulled on his arm but Evol brushed her off.

"_Go_!"

The boy's eerie laughed flooded the cafeteria before the group could have another word. "You are a brave one, Wizard, but blind bravery will do you no good," The boy's image appeared again, completely recovered, completely unscathed. He summoned another shower of arrows and sent fireballs in every direction. Hysterical laughs escaped his mouth, as the group seemed to dance like puppets to avoid his attack.

"_Soul Strike_!"

Wailing souls began to attack the group while they were still dodging fireballs and arrows. But that was just a distraction. Payon noticed the boy grinning, his hands in the air again. "Oh sh-"

"_Lord of Vermillion_!"

Thunderbolts crashed down on the group, showing no mercy to anything it came in contact with. Chairs and tables were destroyed and the ceiling crumbled and collapsed above them. By the time the deadly storm lifted, the group was just barely holding onto consciousness.

"Why don't you just retreat while I am feeling merciful?" The boy grinned.

Evol let out a low growl and prepared to attack but was stopped by Rya, who grabbed his arms in a death grip. "_Let's go_! He's got too much firepower on us!"

"Aw, how cute, the little Hunter has a caring heart," The boy smiled and one of his eyes began to twitch. "Too bad that won't get you far in life."

"Shut up," Rya snapped.

"It's a pity; I don't need anyone to back me up. I have myself," The boy kept smiling manically, watching the group retreat shamefully to his overbearing firepower. "And my princess."

Rya continued to drag the unwilling Evol away.

"C'mon, let me fight him!"

"You're in no condition to fight," Payon said breathlessly, while Miraka and Skoo quickly supplied everyone with healing potions. He let out an involuntary yelp as he pulled the arrows out of his arm. Skoo quickly applied herbs to it. "We'll go back to Prontera and report the situation, then grab reinforcements. We can't afford to lose him. He's our only source of information!"

"That's why we have to get him before he escapes!" Evol protested, flinging Rya's hands off of him.

"And we won't catch him if we're _dead_! We need all the firepower and strategy to contain this boy!"

They were then ways away from the run-down school, and sure that the boy was no longer pursuing them. Evol grunted; he was clearly upset about the escape. They were going to lose their only lead on the boy because they were too _weak_ to stop him.

"A warp portal!" Paroid interrupted Evol's thoughts as they journeyed further from the abandoned site. A brilliant pillar of light shone from the heavens to the ground. "I bet it'll lead us back to Prontera!"

"You're usually right," Payon nodded. "Everyone get in!"

The group ran towards the warp portal, disappearing as they entered the pillar of light.

"It has been done. They've entered the warp to Alberta."

-x-

The familiar scent of the sea graced their senses.

"We're in Alberta," Paroid blinked, not believing his eyes. He looked around himself in disbelief. "But that was a _Prontera_ warp! I know warp portals better than _anyone_, even Acolytes!"

"Don't worry about it, Paroid," Payon sighed, sitting down on the docks. In all honesty he was a little glad they entered the quiet town. It was a good time to rest and collect his thoughts before reporting the bad news to Spades. "We'll just wait for the ship to Izlude, and go to Prontera from there. It's all the same way."

"Bah, Paroid's gone blind," Skoo groaned. "Every time we see a warp he's always right."

"He's losing his touch," Miraka sighed as she forced Evol to take a white potion. He nearly choked as the thin liquid ran too quickly down his throat.

After 30 minutes of groaning, complaining, and impatient whining and then finally silence, Skoo broke the silence with more complaints.

"Where's the ship?" Skoo grumbled, smoothing out the unruly dull brown hair beneath his goggles. "It shouldn't take that long for it to get to Izlude and back."

"Yeah, the ships are pretty fast," Paroid nodded grouchily, still not believing that he had read a warp portal wrong. He carried the reputation of having an excellent intuition and was not looking forward to losing it.

A moment of silence passed again, allowing the group to reorganize their thoughts.

"Hey, I think I can apply for the Assassin class soon," Miraka cried gleefully, breaking the quiet air. She checked over the Assassin job application form through a device strapped to her wrist, called the Information and Communications Assistant (ICA for short). As the name suggested, the device stored an encyclopedia of information regarding Rune-Midgard and acted as a communication device at the same time. It also functioned as a tracking device, being able to give general locations of team members in case of separation.

Rya grinned, excited for her friend. She had already successfully applied for a higher class before the others with Payon, Skoo, and Evol. The feeling of rising up the ranks was always a joyous one.

The job system they lived on was not very complex. Everything revolved around destroying the monsters that plagued Rune-Midgard. Their world was once at war with the gods and the monsters, but a temporary peace was restored between the fighting souls. However, the monsters still lurked around, and some even attacked people. Thus, everyone was trained to destroy the remaining threats to Rune-Midgard.

At the age of thirteen, everyone was eligible to be trained. The more monsters they disposed of, the more experience they received to be able to apply for jobs with more skills. When they applied for a higher-ranking job, the decision would be based on how much experience the person had with dealing with monsters, and how refined their skills were. They would have to be interviewed by a panel of elders and perform their skills accordingly. Rya and the others were just a year older than the set age, and had been fighting off the threat to Rune-Midgard for quite awhile already.

The group of close friends also happened to be part of an underground organization called "Wings Armada". The organization (also considered a Guild), one could say, was a group of bounty hunters. Each time an enormous threat to Rune-Midgard was spotted, the group made it their job to target and destroy the threat.

This time, however, the target was a mere human boy.

Word had got out that a young boy, with seemingly the skills of all the jobs, had been wrecking havoc to innocent bystanders. The leader of the Guild, Spades, searched deeper into the situation and found a few facts, though was unwilling to tell his subordinates any details except for the coordinates of which he was last seen and that the boy was extremely powerful. He merely stated that the mission was to bring in the boy, alive, for questioning.

Spades went on to dispatch the only team willing to investigate the matter – the Ownage Crew. Though they were the youngest recruitments, the group had proved worthy to be in the small circle of bounty hunters. The most skilled and eldest group at the time was also in pursuit of one of the biggest hunts of all time – hunting Baphomet. The rest of the groups were back in their Guild's castle, engaged in the War of Emperium: a war between humans that continued even after the temporary peace between the gods and the monsters. It was a war that the Guild had been inadvertently been dragged into after they claimed a vacant castle as their headquarters.

"Too bad Alberta doesn't have the proper job application centre," Skoo sighed in defeat, placing his head on his hands. "Or else we could have a sexy Assassin in our party!"

The six of them sat quietly for another moment as they awaited the arrival of the ship. The party then began to get restless.

"Man, it sure is taking them a long time," Evol quietly said, running a gloved hand through the tips his spiky blue hair. He was still thinking about the shameful retreat they had to make.

"Maybe they went off course?" Paroid suggested.

"Maybe." Payon nodded, lying on his back. Rya was kneeling by his side, applying another herb to his wound, which was healing quickly. Payon had always been a fast healer.

"Let's go for a little swim, shall we?" Paroid grinned, a sudden idea surfacing into his mind. He snuck up behind Rya and pushed her off the dock.

"I hate you!" Rya screamed as she made contact with the once serene water.

"You _idiot_! You _do_ remember that she can't swim right?" Miraka hit Paroid square in the chest before diving in after Rya to reach her before she drowned.

"Eh...I...forgot," Paroid gasped for breath as Miraka disappeared underneath the surface of the water.

"First the warp, now this. Son, I am disappointed. You really are losing your touch," Skoo shook his head with a laugh.

"Shut up," Paroid grumbled.

As Skoo poked fun at Paroid, Evol felt an itch around his leg. Without looking, he reached his hand to scratch his leg, but a slimy and solid object greeted his hand. Evol looked down and saw a tentacle wrapped around his leg. His eyes followed to where the tentacle belonged, and saw a giant squid-like creature on the dock, its beady eyes locked in a piercing gaze.

"Holy shit!"

-x-

Miraka made quick and powerful strokes to reach Rya's struggling form. The purple-haired Thief grasped Rya's arm and made more stressful strokes to bring up extra weight. Rya resurfaced under the dock, clutching the dock's support pillars to help her keep afloat as she gasped for air. Miraka, however, resurfaced in open water and before she knew it, a slimy tentacle wrapped around her arms and neck and pulled her, screaming, out of the water. Rya didn't dare make another sound; she stared with wide eyes at her best friend being dragged out of the water. She gripped the support pillar tighter as she listened to a croaking squeak and unidentifiable speaking transform into a seductive girl's voice.

"Thank you Daisuke, you have done well to leading them here."

"You're welcome, my princess."

Rya immediately recognized the second voice; it was the boy that they were ordered to bring in alive. She recalled a moment where he stated something about his "princess".

_"I don't need anyone to back me up. I have myself, and my princess."_

Removing her bunny band, Rya took a chance and peeked up over the dock. She saw her friends inanimate, most likely knocked out or put to sleep by a potion of some sort, and two identical looking men standing watch over them, their backs turned in Rya's direction. Rya looked around more and quickly ducked under the dock, embarrassed, when she found the "Daisuke" character and a very beautiful girl in a deep kiss.

"Unfortunately, I will not need you anymore."

Whatever came next, Rya didn't know. All she heard was silence, a dull thud, and a piercing screech. She peeked up over the dock again and saw her friends, the girl, and the men gone. There was only Daisuke on his knees, twitching uncontrollably.

_They're gone._ Rya thought in bewilderment. _But how? She didn't look like an Acolyte, and neither did her men. And there aren't any traces of butterfly wings around... _

Rya climbed on the dock, approaching the deranged boy. "D...Daisuke?"

Daisuke whirled around, a maniacal grin plastered on his face. "Ha...ha...what do you want? Ha..."

"W...where did they go?" Rya meekly asked, brainstorming for any way she could get Daisuke to help her friends escape the squid-girl. She didn't know what the squid-girl wanted, but Rya knew she wanted her friends back.

"Ha...who, what now..." Daisuke began to give off small broken laughs.

"Where did she take my friends?"

"Ha...what friends...ha...ha...there's only...ha...Daisuke!" Daisuke disappeared with a laugh.

_He must be using the cloaking technique._ Rya thought bitterly to herself. She knew she had a counter to the skill, but without her falcon, it was useless.

Daisuke's laugh echoed through the empty air. Rya gritted her teeth together, wondering where the ship could've gone. She needed it more than ever. Frantically, she looked around and saw a small fishing boat approaching the dock.

It was her ticket to Prontera.


	2. Prontera Reinforcements

**Summary:** They worked for an underground organization of bounty hunters. Time after time, they took care of threats to Rune-Midgard. But this time, their target isn't anything of the ordinary; it's a boy who knows the key to the next Ragnarok.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ragnarok Online. :P But the characters in this story belong to my friends and I.

**Author's Note:** I'm back with a revision of The Ragnarok! W00t! There have been some changes (mostly the fight scenes and some dialogue...also the new "Wings Armada" group), so I suggest to those who have read this before read it again. Sorry for the trouble. DX Now on with the story!

**-**

**The Ragnarok**

**Chapter Two: Prontera Reinforcements**

**-**

Ramza met up with Blades as he walked out of the weapons shop, a smile plastered over his facial features.

"You sold your Mr. Smile and hat," Blades observed, seeing Ramza's grinning face for the first time in awhile. The old hat he had always been wearing was also nowhere to be seen. "It's been a long since I've seen your face."

"Yeah. I could hardly breathe in that thing anyways, and that hat is really, really...well, too pink for my tastes," Ramza nodded gleefully. "But that's not the point. You wouldn't believe what I got!"

"Let me guess, you sold your old sword and got a new one," Blades grinned, noting the brand new hilt of a sword in Ramza's sheath. "You're so predictable, Ramza."

"Booyah baby!" Ramza stuck his fist in the air as a symbol of victory, ignoring Blades's last statement. "I got the sword Edge!"

"Whoa, that sword is brand, spanking new! How'd you afford it?"

"I'm broke now, but my parents helped fund for half of it!" Ramza beamed proudly at his new weapon. "It's gonna OWN you!"

"You said that with your old sword, and I still managed to beat you," Blades said mockingly with a laugh.

"Oh shut up." Ramza grumbled.

"Ramza! Blades!"

The lone figure of a girl ran swiftly towards the two Swordsmen. Rya panted heavily as she ran as fast as she could, darting through the enormous crowd of Merchants and Black Smiths selling their goods. She nearly ran into the duo when she skidded to a stop. Her two teammates from the subdivision Ownage Crew, of Wings Armada, stared incredulously at the frazzled girl before them. The two boys had told the rest of the team to go on first, as they needed to refine their weapons. Rya placed her hands on her knees to take a short breather before she began.

"Whoa! Rya, what's up?" Blades asked curiously as he looked down on her.

"Someone took Payon and the others," Rya spoke softly, regaining her posture. "I don't know where they are."

"What?!" Ramza hollered, receiving stares from surrounding people. Ramza muttered a quick apology before lowering his voice. "Who the hell would kidnap them, besides Payon's fan girls?"

"This girl...and this guy named Daisuke," Rya explained. "I...I don't know why they would kidnap them."

"Wow, so Payon's got a female _and_ male fan club," Blades said sarcastically. "Where did you last see them?"

"On the docks of Alberta," Rya answered.

"Well what are we waiting for? To Alberta we go!" Ramza declared loudly, earning more stares from the people nearby.

"Wait, where's Shish?" Rya asked.

"She's in the church. She said she was able to apply to become a Priest, so she left," Blades explained.

"Well we'll need all the reinforcements we can get, so let's go to the church first and wait for Shish," Rya suggested. "And we should file a report for Spades too."

"We can do that later. The faster we act, the fewer injuries there will be. Besides, Spades gave us this mission so he trusts us," Blades said.

"Alright! Onwards!" Ramza announced, taking a step in the direction towards the church.

"Shut up, Swordsman," A Merchant snapped as he turned away momentarily from his customer.

"We need to work on your volume before we tell you any secrets," Blades laughed.

"Oh shut up."

**- **

A small groan escaped Payon's lips. His head was swimming and he felt groggy. Slowly, Payon opened his eyes, his vision slowly beginning to focus.

"You're up," A quiet voice reached his ears.

Payon turned his head on the cold stone floor and saw Miraka sitting solemnly with her back against a wall. The other three boys were lying, motionless, on the ground. A single bulb on the ceiling dimly lit the room, and no windows were in sight. "Miraka?"

"The others are still out like a light," Miraka explained. "There's one door that will probably lead us out, but it's locked tight. I've already tried breaking down the door, but with no luck."

"Oh." Payon sat up and rubbed the sides of his head.

"I don't know where we are, and I doubt the others will find out too soon. I checked the party list; they're in Prontera. Rya's escaped there and our location was said to be unknown."

"What?" Payon gaped. There was absolutely no place that was unknown in Rune-Midgard, but there they were in an unknown place. Payon tapped the device on his wrist, finding the button labeled "Party" on the screen and saw their names pop up along with their current locations on his wrist-device.

**_Party – Ownage Crew  
_**_Skoo (_ _Unknown Place__)**  
**Payon (_ _Unknown Place__)**  
**Paroid (_ _Unknown Place__)**  
**Blades (Prontera)**  
**Rya (Prontera)**  
**Miraka (_ _Unknown Place__)**  
**Ramza (Prontera)**  
**Shishkabob (Prontera)**  
**Evol (_ _Unknown Place_

"What...this can't be..." Payon whispered. "There isn't supposed to be a single unknown place in Rune-Midgard!"

"That is what you think," Another voice spoke with a light accent. In the midst of Payon's puzzling, the door had opened and a girl appeared. She was the most beautiful girl Payon had ever seen, with the voice and looks of a goddess; her hair was a dull blue and reached a little past her shoulders. Her perfect figure was clothed with a knight's uniform, and upon her head rested an evil band. Payon's jaw dropped but quickly snapped shut.

"You like my figure?" The girl smiled mockingly.

Payon turned away and blushed.

"My figure is not what I have come to discuss, however," The girl smiled again, her voice entrancing Payon's mind. "I have come to purpose a deal."

"And you had to kidnap us just to talk to us?" Miraka scoffed, remaining in the same composure as she was before.

The girl merely smiled and leaned against the doorframe of their only exit, ignoring Miraka's question. "I am Kania. I'm sure you've met Daisuke, my former helper. I am like him, a mix of all classes."

Payon stared wide eyed and gripped his sword, Flamberge, with a gloved hand, ready to fight. His helm nearly fell over his face as he made a move to stand up to his full height.

"You can't stop me, I'm too powerful for you," Kania laughed as she saw Payon stand straight up, gripping his sword. "Your attacks will be futile against me."

Payon grumbled under his breath but kept his hand rested on the hilt of his Flamberge.

"It is better for you if you merely listened."

Evol, Pariod, and Skoo simultaneously groaned, interrupting Kania. Each opened his eyes slowly to take in the unfamiliar sights.

"Whoa, where are we?!" Paroid demanded when the room came into focus.

"This is my little haven, only known to me and my guards," Kania smiled as the three awoke. "And now to you."

"Just tell us what you want," Payon growled, ignoring the three boys' recovery.

-

Blades paced around impatiently as he waited the ship to Alberta with his friends. As he mumbled incoherent words, Shishkabob sighed. Shishkabob loved to help people and had dreamed of becoming a Priest after being an Acolyte. Today was the day, but the happy mood had distinguished after Ramza, Blades and Rya had delivered the bad news.

"It's too bad Christy can't warp us all," Ramza mumbled, using Shishkabob's real name. "Oh, sorry Shishkabob, I didn't mean to use your real name."

Shishkabob merely smiled. "It's alright, Ramza." Shishkabob always preferred to be called Shishkabob instead of Christy. She hated the name Christy, named after her dreadful, prissy, bitchy, so-called "perfect" cousin, Christabel, so she insisted that everyone call her Shishkabob instead, a name completely unrelated to Christabel.

Back to the current situation, Shishkabob couldn't warp them all because she had run out of blue gems that enabled her to warp people. The store, uncannily, had run out on their stock in their time of need. The Kafra had also been too busy with hundreds of other people to talk to them. Thus the only option they had was to wait for the ship, which was, for an odd reason, quite slow for the day.

A few people joined them in their wait. Ramza glanced at a Mage, one of the people who joined them, and quickly turned away blushing. Blades, seeing his friend's sudden change of mood, took a look at the Mage walking past them. She had guiltless blue eyes, a shy smile, and long green hair in tied loosely two pigtails, giving her a rather childish aura. On her head rested a panda hat. The Mage looked up and caught Blades looking her over and blushed, abruptly walking the opposite direction she was before. Blades grinned. "Ramza, I've been meaning to ask you something."

"What?"

"Do you believe in love at first sight, or do you need her to walk by again?"

Ramza smacked Blades on top of his head.

"Kidding, kidding! She's pretty cute, anyways. You know her?" Blades asked, rubbing his head.

"Yeah."

Before Blades could inquire Ramza further, the ship came into view and Ramza went off topic.

"Finally, the ship is here!"

Eager people breathed a sigh of relief as the ship docked. The ship had been fairly inconvenient for the day, and customers were in a hurry to get onboard.

"Hey, there's no one coming out," A Merchant said in the crowd. "What with them today?"

The small crowd nodded as murmurs of confusion spread. Blades cast a concerned glance at his friends, wondering why the captain did not come out. After a minute of chatter, the ship's cabin door swung open.

To their shock, the captain did not come out, but a bandit did. The ragged man grinned, walking towards the now worried crowd.

-

"You must be joking," Skoo laughed nervously. "You've got the wrong group."

"This is no joke, Blacksmith," Kania replied sharply. She turned on her heel and walked out of the lifeless room. "I'll give you some time to think on your own. I will be back to retrieve your answer."

"Bullshit!" Paroid immediately sneered after Kania closed the door. "As if _we_ are eligible to do _those_ sorts of things."

"Big words for a small boy," Skoo muttered. Paroid was a short boy after all.

"Guys, I think she's serious," Payon said bluntly.

"No shit, Payon," Miraka dryly stated as she stood up. "We need to bust outta here, and _fast_."

"There's no way out, and I doubt we can blast our way out of here," Payon mumbled. "And we already missed our chance to bum rush her out of that door. We have to count on the rest of the party to help us."

"I guess we have no choice," Miraka sighed. "Let's hope they come and find us fast, I can't stand that bitchy Knight."

-

"We want 10,000,000 zeny, or we'll kill the captain and all that's aboard," The bandit smirked, twirling a dagger expertly between his fingers. "No one's boardin' the ship till then."

Another bandit appeared on the dock with a curved short sword. "And we'll be makin' sure tha' no one gets on, ya hear?"

A wave of silence washed over the crowd. Ramza snuck a glance at Hasli, the green-haired Mage, who looked worried.

"Hey," Ramza nudged Blades. "Let's take them on."

"I smell a challenge," Blades grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Rya, Shish, you with us?"

Both Rya and Shishkabob nodded.

"Wait here, I'll handle this one," Blades jumped onto the ledge of the boat, catching the attention of all eyes around.

"Didja hear me, ya brat?" The bandit with the short sword approached Blades menacingly. He picked Blades up by the collar of his shirt. "Do ya need some ass kickin'?"

"I'll be doing that today," Blades smirked, raising his left hand. "JUDO –"

The bandit raised his arm in defense.

"SLAP!" Blades used his right hand and slapped the unsuspecting bandit across the face, shocking him into dropping Blades. Blades grinned as he elbowed the bandit hard in the stomach and tossed him into the crowd. It was a little something he had picked up from Skoo, and he had been itching to use it. The crowd took no time to waste in beating the lone bandit with everything they had.

"Why you –" The other bandit charged at Blades with his sword swinging dangerously before him. Blades sidestepped the charge and slammed the hilt of his sword as hard as he could on the man's head, knocking him out in one blow. "C'mon, let's go!"

Ramza, Shishkabob and Rya simultaneously jumped aboard, running into the ship's cabin. They rushed behind a stack of crates in the first room, careful to not make a sound. They saw bandits littered around everywhere.

"Charge them?" Ramza asked, tightening his grip around his new sword.

"Let's do it," Blades nodded with a grin.

Blades and Ramza rushed towards the surprised bandits with Rya and Shishkabob backing them up. Swords began to clash as the bandits recovered from their initial shock.

Blades swung his fist, cracking a bandit's jaw, as he fended off another with his sword. Ramza slammed the hilt of his sword down repeatedly like an axe at every charging bandit, attempting to knock them out without dealing life-threatening injuries. A bandit dodged Ramza's attack and charged at him in hopes to catch him off guard; instead, Ramza swiped his sword at the incoming bandit. The bandit ducked, but Ramza nailed a bandit behind him instead. Rya pinned several enemies to the wall (Blades and Ramza taking them out later), as Shishkabob cast barriers around her teammates. However, a bandit managed to sneak up behind the two girls, and with a yell, smashed a crate on Shishkabob's head.

"Shish!" Rya exclaimed, startled, as she turned to her fallen comrade. She ran towards the grinning culprit and disregarded her bow and arrows, slamming her fist into his face.

"Ugghh..." The bandit slumped to the ground in a daze.

"Weakling..." Rya muttered, dealing a finishing kick to him before she turned away. "You all right, Shish?"

"I'm fine," Shishkabob rubbed her head after casting a simple healing spell on herself.

The crowd of bandits had begun to thin after a heated battle with Blades and Ramza working hard to take them out. Shishkabob and Rya decided to join in from the sidelines to help the boys out in face-to-face combat.

Blades tripped a bandit, and then dropped his elbow forcefully onto the bandit's stomach. There was a gurgle, and the bandit curled up, clutching his stomach.

"Last one!" Ramza panted as he charged at the remaining standing bandit.

The bandit sidestepped the tired Swordsman and charged for Shishkabob. "Die little girl!"

"Heeeeyaah!" Shishkabob swung her foot upwards, kicking the man in the face. Following the kick, Shishkabob flung her mace at the side of his head, knocking him out.

"Don't mess with our Priestess," Blades grinned, retrieving Shishkabob's mace for her. "She is definitely not weak."

"Let's get going, there's still the leader of the bandits to take care of," Shishkabob said.

"Right."

The four traveled quietly into the ship. Surprisingly, there were very few bandits that were left, and Ramza and Blades managed to defeat them before they caused any trouble.

"Well, this is the last room...their leader should be in here..." Blades murmured, readying his sword. He shoved the door open and jumped inside.

"What? How did you get past my crew?" A tall man growled, standing up. His face was scarred and he wielded two daggers: he was a Rogue.

"They were weaklings," Blades growled back, Ramza, Rya and Shishkabob appearing behind him.

"You're only kids!" He exclaimed, lifting his daggers.

"Yeah...how observant!" Blades charged towards the man, bowling him over.

"You'll regret that," The man hissed.

"Oh rea –" Blades' eyes widened and he doubled over, curled into a ball, his hand protectively covering his crotch.

"Fuck, that was a dirty shot," Blades groaned in pain.

"I don't play by whatever rules you do," The man laughed, turning to the remaining three. "Now then..."

"_Bash_!" Ramza dashed at the man with his sword.

"_Double Strafe_!" Two arrows were shot.

"_Holy Light_!" Light flooded from the ground the Rogue was standing on in the form of a cross.

The Rogue deflected the sword and arrows with his quick reflexes, but was attacked by Shishkabob.

"Ugh!" He groaned, rubbing his arms. "Little wench!"

The Rogue jumped over Ramza, shoving Rya aside as he ran towards Shishkabob, his daggers ready to strike.

"_Holy Light_!" Shishkabob attacked again, jumping away from the advancing Rogue.

The Rogue growled in pain as the cross of light attacked him again. "_Intimidate_!"

"Ahhh!" Shishkabob yelped as her own attack was set on her.

"Shish!" Ramza rushed towards the Rogue. "_Magnum Break!_"

Ramza's fiery attack pushed the Rogue backwards, allowing Ramza enough time to rear up for another attack. "_Bash_!"

"_Double Strafe_!" Rya shot another two arrows.

The Rogue quickly jumped, evading the two attacks. He ran across the crates in the room and jumped down, ready to strike. But he couldn't move. "What the hell?!"

"You were too busy trying to attack Shishkabob, to see me setting up an Ankle Snare," Rya smirked, loading her bow.

"And you're gonna pay for sacking me." Blades had recovered.

"_Bash_!"

"_Bash_!"

"_Double Strafe_!"

"_Holy Light_!"

The Rogue struggled to break free of the snare but was unsuccessful, and was hit by the four attacks.

The light from the Shishkabob's attack began to clear, as the Rogue lay on the ground, twitching.

"Bitch." Blades stomped on the fallen Rogue's crotch. "Now that was my real revenge. Where are you holding the captain and the others?"

The Rogue whimpered.

"Uh, Blades, I think he's in too much pain over losing his abilities to produce babies," Ramza said.

"Serves him right," Blades scoffed. "They're probably down in the storage deck..."

"Mmmf!"

"What was that?" Shishkabob whirled around.

"Mmmfh!"

"The crate!" Ramza ran to a crate where the sound was coming from. He lifted up the top, and inside was a scrunched up captain, tied up and gagged.

"Thank you for rescuing this ship," The Captain bowed gratefully as he was freed from his restraints.

"It was no problem," Blades waved it off.

"You spent half the time on the ground," Ramza teased.

"I was sacked! It wasn't my fault," Blades grumbled.

"Thank you again," The Captain repeated, laughing sheepishly at the two Swordsmen. "We'll let you ride the ship for free, as a token of our thanks."

"That's very kind of you," Shishkabob thanked the Captain, as Blades and Ramza began to bicker.

"Look! It's Hasli!" Blades pointed wildly behind Ramza.

"Huh?" Ramza whirled around.

"Gotcha! Haha!" Blades laughed.

"Why you..." Ramza chased Blades out of the room, swinging his sword around madly.

"Don't worry, they won't cause much damage," Rya assured the Captain.

"Let's go get some seats in the other cabins," Shishkabob said. "Before they're all taken."

"You go ahead...I need some fresh air," Rya said, making her way out onto the ship's deck.

"Okay, then," Shishkabob answered with a nod, and headed up the stairs to join Ramza and Blades.

-

"_Bash_!"

For the fifteenth time, Paroid charged at the door, attempting to smash it open. His Claymore bounced harmlessly off the door, not even leaving a scratch. Paroid groaned again as he flopped on his back, his sword falling nosily beside him. Payon was beside him, bored out of his wits, fiddling with his wrist-device.

"Give up already," Skoo sighed. "I can feel the door's pain."

"Then why isn't it falling?" Paroid demanded breathlessly.

"It doesn't like you."

"So?"

"That's why it isn't falling for you."

"You can make any lame joke funny," Miraka laughed.

"Fear me. Rawr."

"I'm so stupid!" Payon suddenly blurted out.

"If you're trying to be funny –" Skoo began.

"No, it's not that. I'm just stupid! We could've communicated with our other party members!" Payon exclaimed.

"What? How?" Paroid asked, puzzled, sitting up.

"Party chat; there's enough transmission here to reach them!" Payon tapped the device on his wrist and went to the party list, clicking party chat.

However, before Payon could speak to his friends, the door swung open.

-

The wind rushed through Rya's hair. The rest of the party had taken coverage in the ship's cabin with the other travelers. Unaware of the Wizard beside her, she mumbled under her breath. "I hope we're not too late..."

"Too late for what?" A deep, masculine voice asked.

Rya turned her head slightly and gave a small smile. "My friends."

"You lost them?" He asked, turning his head back towards the ocean.

"No, they've been..." Rya debated aimlessly with her mind to whether or not to tell the Wizard about her friends. _He could be a spy of some sort for them. _

"Kidnapped?" He finished off for her.

"Why would you think that?" Rya asked, surprised.

"Faces are easy to read," He simply replied. "You were debating with yourself whether or not you could trust me; your sudden distant expression gave that off. Your eyes told me about the kidnapping part."

"I see..."

An awkward silence draped in between the two.

"So what brings you here? Not many people travel to Alberta often," Rya asked curiously, looking up at his kitty band. She noted that it was pitch black instead of a golden-brown.

"I'm on the same path as you are," He replied. "My brother has gone missing."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well maybe you can come with us; maybe you can find him that way. My party and I are going...well, on a rescue mission you can say, to get our friends back."

"That is not needed," He shook his head. "I can manage on my own."

"Alright then." Rya noted the speck of land, steadily growing larger.

"We're about to dock," The Wizard stated bluntly. "Thank you for offering help..."

"Rya," Rya finished off for him.

"I am Daiken. Maybe we will meet again, Rya." The spiky redheaded Wizard nodded politely at her as the ship docked. He turned and walked off the ship, his cloak billowing out as he walked. Something about him seemed so familiar to Rya...

The calm mood was suddenly interrupted as Ramza went charging out of the ship, Blades hot on his trail.

"You like her!"

"Do not!"

Shishkabob sighed loudly as she shook her head and looked in Rya's direction from the ship's cabin entrance. "Boys..."

-

"Comfortable?" A familiar voice asked teasingly.

"My home sweet home," Paroid said dryly.

"I'd like you to meet Khaos," Kania smiled sweetly, so sweetly that it was sickening. A Crusader stepped through the door. He had a smug smirk on his face and his green hair was blocked by a solar god helm. "I have some business to deal with and he will take my place. You will answer to him while I am gone. Oh, and yes, he is a mix of the classes. It's only the three of us who are."

There was silence between the group and Khaos. Miraka twitched at the sight of him; she just wanted to wipe the cocky smirk off Khaos' face.

"I need to leave now. You boys and girls get acquainted now," Kania left the Crusader in the room, leaving the door ajar.

"A Crusader? You're the first I've seen," Miraka commented. An idea popped into her mind. _He'd better answer the way I think he would._ "You must be slow, stupid and full of shit just like the rest of your super class team."

"I am fairly intelligent, thank you very much," Khaos spat. "And much quicker than you, Thief."

_All right! It's working! _"Intelligent? That's new. Anyways, I have something else in mind. I challenge you to your agility abilities," Miraka stood up, grinning.

"Have it your way," Khaos smirked.

"And if I win?" Miraka asked innocently.

"What would you want?"

"Out of this shit hole. Each and every one of us," Miraka said boldly.

Khaos continued to smirk. "So be it. I see no hope for you to win at all. If you lose, I will dispose of you personally, whether it is against Kania's wishes or not."

"Done." Miraka glanced hopefully at her friends. _I'm doing this for you guys...wish me luck. _

-

"Stop denying it."

"I'm not denying anything." Ramza replied, irritated. "Just shut up, Blades."

"You can't shut up the power of _love_!" Blades called out, lagging behind as Rya grabbed him in a chokehold, allowing Ramza to get a head start off with Shishkabob.

"He doesn't shut up, does he?" Shishkabob sighed.

"Never. You should just use your silencing spell on him next time," Ramza grumbled.

"Ah...I'll take that into consideration," Shishkabob nodded in agreement.

"C'mon, stop teasing him," Rya said.

"But that takes away all the fun," Blades protested.

"We'll never be able to find them if you keep annoying him about Hasli," Rya objected, mentioning the name of the green haired Mage.

"Oh...fine," Blades grinned. "But I get to bug him afterwards, right?"

"No."

"Aw..."

Rya and Blades caught up with Ramza and Shishkabob in a matter of seconds.

"Now what?" Ramza asked. "I've looked through the whole dock and asked around, and there's no trace of them."

"Then she must've warped them all," Rya said with thought.

"But you told us she was dressed as a Knight!" Blades objected.

"She's probably a mix of all the classes," Rya explained.

"What?!" The three exclaimed, surprised.

Rya sighed. "Spades sent us to that abandoned school because there was a disturbance. The disturbance turned out to be a boy, who had some how mixed all the classes into one super class. We retreated because none of us could fight him and defeat him, and that's when that squid-girl kidnapped them. The boy was probably working for the girl, and I suspect the girl is a mix too because they disappeared as if they had warped."

"Oh, I get it..." Shishkabob nodded. "But if they were all that powerful, why would they kidnap the others?"

"That's what I don't get," Rya sighed.

"But I do."

The quartet whirled around. A boy, dressed as a Wizard with red, semi-spiked hair and an evil band. Rya immediately recognized him, but the others had never seen him before.

"Daisuke."

-

Miraka stretched her legs out, preparing for the agility battle. Khaos had agreed to let Miraka have a few minutes prepare, saying it would be useless anyways.

"Miraka, you know you can't stand up to him! He's a mix!" Payon exclaimed, worried for his friend.

"Look, I know that I can't stand up to him. This is our only means of escaping!" Miraka exclaimed. She looked around the room, seeing the confused faces of everyone around her. "This challenge that I made was just a diversion. While I am doing the competition, he'll most likely get you guys to stay in this room. If not, he'll bring you guys out to watch my defeat, but either way, my plan should work.

"If you guys are in this room, use everything you can to get out this room. I'll stick something in the doorway for starters, but I doubt that will work perfectly. Contact the others while you're at it, so they know we're alive. If all fails, contact me in a private channel and I'll use my cloaking ability and try to open this door from outside, all right? If you manage to bust out, contact me and I'll use my cloaking ability to escape.

"If he brings you guys out, run like hell when we are competing, he'll be distracted by me so you guys would get a head start. Again, I'll use my cloaking ability to escape. He can't take out all of us at the same time, hell even that Daisuke guy couldn't. He could only take us out, one by one, until we were all weakened. So we have to get at least one of us out."

"Sounds alright...I guess. But it's really risky, don't you think?" Skoo said.

"Yeah, why can't we just bust out of here when he opens the door?" Paroid asked.

"Cause he'll be smack in our way! He's probably like a brick wall, _and_ we would be cornered in this little room."

"Well, I guess it's worth a shot." Payon sighed. "You sure you can do this?"

"I can take care of myself, Payon." Miraka smiled.

"Good luck then," Evol nodded, giving an encouraging pat to her shoulder.

"You guys too," Miraka replied.

"How _did_ you get him to agree, anyways?" Evol asked curiously.

"He's full of pride, and he'd do anything to keep his title as the best. Insult him or challenge him, something's gotta hit the spot. People will agree to any challenge just to show off and mock people." Miraka explained.

The door swung open. "Are you ready?"

Miraka stood up with a mocking smirk that rivaled Khaos'.

"Ready to kick your Crusader ass."


	3. Plan B

**Summary:** They worked for an underground organization of bounty hunters. Time after time, they took care of threats to Rune-Midgard. But this time, their target isn't anything of the ordinary; it's a boy who knows the key to the next Ragnarok.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ragnarok Online. :P But the characters in this story belong to my friends and I.

**Author's Note:** I'm back with a revision of The Ragnarok! W00t! There have been some changes (mostly the fight scenes and some dialogue...also the new "Wings Armada" group), so I suggest to those who have read this before read it again. Sorry for the trouble. DX One note before we continue:

**_Bold Italic_ **means Party Chat.

**Bold **means Private Messaging.

Much explaining will be present in this chapter, so get ready for long and boring paragraphs. Enjoy.

-

**The Ragnarok**

**Chapter Three: Plan B**

**-**

"Tell me again, why do you trust him?"

Blades looked untrustingly at Daisuke in the lead, the rest of the crew trailing behind him.

"It's not like we have a choice," Rya explained. "And first off, Daisuke doesn't seem the same as the first time we met him. He was a psychopath who was madly in love with a girl, and now, he's not. He's changed, Blades. Secondly, we don't know where they are, and who else would know except Daisuke? Haven't you checked the party list? They're in some unknown place, and we don't know where the hell this unknown place is. What other option _do _we have?"

"You're too nice, you know that?" Blades shook his head.

Ramza sliced at a Poring without effort, killing it in one slash of his sword. He knelt down and picked up an empty bottle from the dead Poring. "Well she does have a point, doesn't she?"

"I guess you're right..."

"We're here." Daisuke stopped. They had stopped in the middle of the Alberta fields.

"So...?" Ramza asked, expecting more. Ramza rummaged through his pack and brought out a bottle of milk. Shishkabob jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow, giving him a look that told him to put it away and save it for later.

Daisuke, however, ignored Ramza's craving for milk and shoved his sword tip into the ground and immediately, a warp portal flared from the ground.

"If we were warping we could've asked a Kafra you know," Blades mentioned. "If it isn't directly to the unknown place, that is."

"This is the only and exact spot where I can warp to where your friends are," Daisuke explained coldly. "Only Kania and Khaos can access the warp portals else where."

"That's great!" Blades remarked sarcastically.

"Very," Daisuke retorted, just as sarcastic.

"Quit it you two," Shiskabob snapped. "So, Daisuke, can others enter the warp portal or can only mixes enter?"

"Anyone can."

"Wait, but how come there is suddenly an unknown place in Rune-Midgard? There never has been! And how did she manage to become a mix?" Ramza questioned.

"That is Kania's ability. She discovered a special ability like no other," Daisuke explained gruffly. "She was able to create a separate realm in Rune-Midgard, hence the unknown place, named Aria by her. She was also able to shift into a creature she created, the Sykan. I believe the Hunter has already seen it, the squid-like creature."

"But how?" Rya demanded, as the others looked on confused, as they hadn't been there from the start.

"I cannot explain why she has those special abilities. Even I do not know the reasoning behind that. As for the mixing of the classes, it is a long story.

"She started out as an Acolyte. She never wanted to be one, but her mother was a Priest and clearly wanted Kania to follow her footsteps. Kania didn't like that, so she ran away from home after experiencing being an Acolyte, and that was how she discovered her ability to create a realm and creature; she wanted to go someplace else where she could control her own world. The creature she created was fed by her determination and became strong and swift. As the creature grew strong, she wanted to become a Knight because she admired the strength of it. This led her to disguise herself as a different person so nobody could recognize her. And then she passed the Swordsman training and was worthy to become a Swordsman.

"However, Kania still had her Acolyte abilities. She then thought of the idea of combining all the classes together to become one super-class. It was risky, for the consequences of choosing more than one job class were harsh, but she succeeded. Then she met me. I was an Archer back then and I grew suspicious of her so I followed her. I saw her as a Swordsman, but when she thought no one was looking, I saw her heal herself with her Acolyte abilities after she took on an Angelring and its Poring and Poporing mob. We became close friends afterwards. I followed her footsteps in creating the super-class, and I succeeded also, but I had more difficulty with it."

"Holy shit! If she were able to do that, why would she kidnap the others? And why not just live in her own realm and crap like that?" Blades asked, shocked at the super-class history.

"She is only able to create one of each. That is the con; perhaps she is tired of Aria," Daisuke explained impatiently, apparently not liking all the questions he had to answer. He had already spent valuable time explaining the super-class history.

"You still haven't answered the other questions," Rya pressed on. "Why did she kidnap the others?"

"Why waste my breath even more on this?" Daisuke snapped. "Your friends already know, Kania has told them. Ask them to tell you. Let us get going now. You _do_ want your friends back in one piece, don't you? We have already lost many precious minutes due to your questionings."

"Let's go then," Shishkabob nodded.

One by one, they disappeared into the warp portal.

-

Khaos led Miraka out of the room. "You boys stay here. You might see your friend again, if I'm feeling merciful."

Payon gripped the dagger Miraka had given him beforehand. Miraka nodded at him as she slowly closed the door, giving him the signal. Payon rushed to the door and stuck the dagger between the frame and it. It would give them a chance to open the door.

"Well? Saying goodbye to your friends?" Khaos laughed as he saw Miraka slowly close the door. He walked swiftly over and slammed the door shut, locking it, the dagger wedged in between the door and its frame.

"Let us go."

Payon stared at the door. The dagger was stuck in it, and the door remained locked. Skoo tapped it a few times, but the dagger didn't budge an inch.

"Shit, that's some strength," Paroid shook his head helplessly. "Now we'll never get out!"

"Watch me," Payon growled; determined fire burned in his eyes. He grabbed the hilt of the dagger and pushed it up with all his might. A satisfying click was heard; he had sliced through the lock.

"Booyah! Go Payon!" Evol cheered.

Payon grinned as he brought the dagger out, with much difficulty. He turned the knob, ready to bust out of the horrid cage.

But the doorknob was stiff.

"What the hell?" Payon stared unbelievably at the door. It was still locked.

Skoo peeked through the tiny crack of the door and its frame. "Uh, Payon. We have a problem."

"What?" Payon asked, still in shock.

"There's another lock."

-

Daisuke led them swiftly through the dark and empty corridors. "Keep silent, Haru and Naru may be patrolling the halls."

"Haru and Naru?" Ramza asked, puzzled.

"They are the two twin body guards of Kania. They are experienced fighters, maybe the best for two non-mixes."

"What class?" Blades asked.

"Spearmen. Now shut up, all of you."

In silence, the group traveled closely by Daisuke as he navigated the narrow passageways.

-

The boys lay on their backs. They couldn't do anything more to open the door; the dagger wasn't able to slide back in the crack between the door and its frame to slice through the other lock.

"Oh, right," Payon murmured grimly. "Party chat."

Payon remembered Miraka telling him to contact the others. "Ugh, too tired. You do it Paroid."

"Too lazy. It's all yours Evol."

"Skoo."

"Blades."

"Blades isn't here, Skoo."

"...he is with us spiritually."

The responsibility of contacting the others was lost as the message traveled around the room, each boy answering the same way.

"Lazy asses," Payon sighed. Seeing that no one was up for the challenge, he brought the device to his lips to do it himself.

"Speak for yourself!" All three retorted.

-

When Miraka exited the warp portal with Khaos, she set her eyes on a familiar sight.

"W...what? Why are we in Payon Dungeon Level 1?" Miraka asked, puzzled.

"Haha, little Thief, you challenged me, did you not? I chose the Payon Dungeons for our challenge to take place. The first to reach Level 5 shall be declared the winner," Khaos laughed. "Ladies first. You may either go to the left or head on straight. I will go the opposite way. Take note that teleporting and fly wings are not allowed."

To ensure that fly wings were not to be used, Khaos forced Miraka to give up her stash, along with his own. He gave their combined fly wings to a grateful passerby.

_My plan can't work like this! Wait, maybe I can fake it and leave once he is out of sight. Then I'll try to get back to the others. If not, I'll get reinforcements._ "Alright then." Miraka nodded, as she carefully looked both ways. The left side was filled with other people. The route ahead had fewer. "I'll go left."

"Whatever you say."

Miraka hid among the other people, slicing at a few Spores in the meantime, making sure Khaos was out of sight. _He's sure to be long gone by now. I've got a whole crowd to go through so it would make sense if I were behind a little. _

Miraka darted her eyes around carefully before using her cloaking ability and running towards the exit. Her feet met grassland and a breeze went through her hair.

She was free.

"**_I let the Thief escape,_**" Khaos spoke into his wrist device as he watched Miraka disappear. "**_She is a nuisance to our plans._**"

"**_Alright then. Warp back immediately to the others. I do not trust that the boys will stay put that easily._**" Kania's voice echoed through Khaos's ears, and only for Khaos's ears to hear.

-

"**_I really have no idea where this room is,_**" Payon spoke through party chat. He had contacted his party minutes ago, and all had been surprised to hear from him. Brushing away their questions, he tried directing them to the room they were trapped in instead. "We've only seen a small glimpse of it. I think across from it is another hallway."

"There are many doors that fit that description," Daisuke replied dryly as Rya told him what Payon said.

"**_Can we just yell and you guys follow the sound?_**" Skoo asked.

"No, someone else may hear you," Daisuke answered as Rya relayed another message.

"**_But you guys can take them out, right?_**" Skoo protested.

"We will leave that as a backup plan," Daisuke said. Blades relayed the message to the three captured boys.

"**_Man, this sucks,_**" Paroid muttered.

"**_Well at least he knows the way around,_**" Shishkabob sighed.

"I may remember which room they are in. My mind is foggy, however," Daisuke said as he made a sharp turn. "I recall Kania having other captives in a room once."

"Now why would she have other captives?" Ramza asked.

"Kania was searching for you. She captured anyone who looked similar in an instant. When she found out they were not you, she killed them."

"Just tell us _why_ she wants us in the first place. It might take forever to find our friends, so tell us _now_," Blades demanded.

"**_I've got a question for this Daisuke guy,_**" Payon said from the party chat, not knowing Blades had asked something important. "**_Why is it that we can't bring down the door, but we managed to slice through a lock?_**"

"Kania most likely did not think about protecting the locks because no blade could fit through the door and its frame, unless there was one jammed in there once the door was shut," Daisuke answered as Shishkabob passed on the question to him. Blades grumbled as his question was ignored.

"**_Quite interesting. The only thing she didn't suspect and we manage to do it. But she's the smart one for putting another lock._**"

Ramza passed on the message to Daisuke, who found no remark for the comment.

"I believe this may be the door." After walking for what seemed like eternity, Daisuke stopped at a door. Calmly, he fumbled for something in his zeny pouch.

"What are you doing?" Rya asked.

"Here it is," Daisuke pulled out a silver object. "It's the key."

-

Miraka had warped back to Prontera, searching for reinforcements. She had checked her party list and _everyone_ was in the unknown place. Feeling useless, Miraka shoved her way through a sea of Merchants, hoping to find other friends or other members in the underground organization she was in.

"Hey, Miraka!"

Miraka turned to face where the voice was coming from. " Tyler!"

A redheaded Wizard grinned as he made his way to her. "What's the rush?"

"No time to explain, but my friends are in danger!" Miraka blurted out, showing Tyler her party list. "They've all been captured into this unknown place!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," The Wizard put his hands in front of him, as if saying stop. "Slow down!"

Miraka grumbled under her breath before explaining the whole story to him.

"Alright. I don't get it."

Miraka dealt him a swift punch to his stomach. "You'll be wasting my time if you ask me questions. Are you going to help me, with what you know or not?"

"I'll help," Tyler nodded, rubbing his stomach. "Geez, you didn't have to punch me, you know?"

"Save it, Tyler," Miraka laughed as she dragged him away in search of more reinforcements.

-

"Okay, so she changed the lock. NOW WHAT?!" Ramza practically screamed, on the verge of exploding in frustration.

"We have no choice but to smash down the door," Daisuke said monotonously.

"But they've tried! Even Paroid couldn't bash it open with his Bash!" Shishkabob objected.

"They haven't tried using firepower from outside, nor both sides," Daisuke snapped. "It's worth a shot."

"Guys, all of you are going to hit at the same time on this door. All of us on this side will do the same. Daisuke said it was worth a try, trying to break open this door with pressure from both sides." Rya instructed Payon, Paroid, Evol and Skoo inside the room.

"Uh, for your information, Paroid bashed this door a billion times," Skoo called out dully from inside the room.

"We're trying from both sides. It can't hurt, right?" Shishkabob reasoned.

"Okay, we'll try it. Personally, I doubt this will work," Payon sighed.

"On the count of three." Blades informed.

"One."

"Two."

"THREE!"

A huge explosion occurred as arrows, swords, fire, lightning, and holy light came in contact with the door.

-

"Damn it!"

Miraka had run around the entire city of Prontera, and the only reinforcement she found was Tyler. The other members of Wings Armada were probably too busy at the castle.

"Am I _not_ good enough for you?" Tyler laughed sheepishly, amused at how Miraka was frustrated.

"I need all the firepower we can get. _You_, for that matter, are not good enough."

"That really hurt," Tyler laughed again as Miraka sought her brain for ideas.

"Do you have any friends?" Miraka asked impatiently.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I've got friends!"

"That can help us?" Miraka asked again, awaiting the answer.

"Oh, haha...That's a different story. Well, I'll have to ask my crew first." Tyler grinned.

"Well please do hurry," Miraka sighed, worried for her friends' safety.

-

The door had been cleared out from the outside. Payon, Paroid, Evol and Skoo lay flat on their backs, dazed from the explosion from their outside help. Skoo sat up; his hair was spiked up, even though he had goggles on his head, due to an electric shock. "Okay, who's the smart guy who used lightning?"

"I did," Daisuke snapped. "Now get out, before they find us. The explosion was more than enough to attract attention."

"Wait, are there others in here? You said Kania kidnapped anyone who even remotely looked like us, and she didn't have our whole crew in," Rya objected.

Daisuke grumbled, irritated. "All I proposed to you was to get your friends back. Now what are you waiting for? Leave!"

"I'm not just about to get innocent lives killed, just because of _us_!" Rya growled defensively.

"Now what was that I said before? Ah yes, Rya, you _are_ too kind for your own good," Blades sighed.

"Fine. Have it your way, Huntress. The rest of you, get out of here unless you want to die. I will escort the Huntress to whatever hostages Kania may have not killed yet in the "imposter" room. There may be no one there, however," Daisuke added.

"I've gotta confess, Daisuke. I don't trust you. Especially if you insist on taking Rya, by herself, away," Blades said. "You might kill her, but who would know?"

"I led you all the way down here to your friends, and you do not trust me? Suit yourself, Swordsman. Go with her if you'd like," Daisuke spat. He turned a heel and made his way down the hallway. "By the way, if you bump into Haru and Naru, I wish you luck. You will need it."

Rya flashed a weak smile to her friends as she ran off to chase Daisuke. "I'll be okay, don't worry. If Daisuke wasn't trustworthy, he would've never told us what he did."

"Why don't we all go?" Evol suggested, eyeing Daisuke from afar. He still did not trust him, even with Rya's reassuring words.

"No, just one is needed. The rest of you, get out, if we are taken hostage again, it's only two missing people and we will have better reinforcements," Blades shook his head. "And whoever the hell these two Haru-Naru people are, I hope they burn in hell."

Blades left, following Rya and Daisuke.

"Well...who knows the way out of here?" Payon sheepishly grinned.

-

"So? What did they say?" Miraka asked impatiently.

"Well you do know that I am the youngest in the party," Tyler began. "And well...they think I'm making this up. They're not gonna help you."

"Great! Just great," Miraka threw her hands up in defeat. "My friends may be killed, and _your_ party thinks we're hallucinating kids!"

"Well not hallucinating kids, but attention-seeking ones with wild imagination," Tyler corrected, and was rewarded with another punch to the gut. "Ow...you should really stop doing that..."

"Really? Why?" Miraka shot back. "My friends are in danger, and here you are, calm as ever!" Miraka started to walk away.

"Wait! Miraka!" Tyler began to chase after her. "Geez, girls. What's up with them these days?"

-

Rya and Blades walked silently behind Daisuke. In a matter of many turns, Daisuke stopped at a door. Loud sobbing was heard from the other side. Without warning, Daisuke took out his sword and lightning burst from the tip, blowing down the door completely. Rya and Blades coughed as door chunks were blown into their faces.

"Great job, Daisuke, you might've killed them instead!" Blades remarked wryly.

Shuffling was heard inside the room.

"Who's there?" Rya called out as she stepped carefully through the broken door. In the corner of the room, she saw a lone Archer boy, trembling. He looked up with terrified, watery eyes at the approaching figure.

Rya knelt down beside the boy. "Are you alright?"

"Are you one of Kania's followers?"

"No, I'm not. I'm here to get you out," Rya replied gently. The boy looked very relieved, but Rya noticed something about him. She tilted up his head for a closer look on his facial features. "You're not 13. You shouldn't be able to become an Archer yet."

The boy's eyes widened. "Wait! I can explain! Just...just d-don't tell anybody! Please! I just want to be an Archer...I just want to help fight off the bad guys!"

Blades knelt down beside Rya. "Hey, kid, don't worry. We won't tell. What's your name, and what's your story?"

"Matt," The boy replied, again relieved. He adjusted his ghost bandana that rested on his semi-spiked red hair. "Ever since my brother left to become a Wizard, I've wanted to help, but I've got a few years until I'm 13, three more years to be exact. My brother came back home one day and gave me this ghost bandana as a birthday present. I asked him to take me with him, but he didn't let me go. So I...I stole my dad's old Archer uniform and left."

Blades raised an eyebrow. "No note to your parents?"

"No, they wouldn't have let me even if I left a note or told them. They'd go looking for me everyone and bring me back!" Matt shook his head. "But I really want to help!"

"Of course they wouldn't let you go! It's dangerous," Rya said sternly. "Why else do you think that they would only allow 13-year-olds and up to go fight off monsters?"

Blades turned to Daisuke as Rya tended to the little Archer boy. "Daisuke, you said Kania kidnapped people that looked like us; Matt doesn't look remotely like anyone in our group, _and_ he is an Archer, which none of us are! Actually, Daisuke, he sort of looks like you if you tilt your head over like that."

Daisuke looked deep in thought. "So she's out hunting for me now..."

-

Shishkabob navigated the hallways, trying to remember exactly where the exit was. After series of dead ends, complaints and frustration, Shishkabob led them to what seemed to be the exit. "Guys, I think this is it..."

Each of them stared at each other. If they took a wrong way out, there was no telling how they could get back to Prontera.

"Ladies first," Paroid laughed nervously. For once, he wasn't sure of where the warp portal led them.

"That means you," Shishkabob replied mockingly.

"Hey! I resent that!"

Shishkabob laughed as she entered the warp portal, but not after saying jokingly, "If we end up in a dangerous place, my corpse will give it away!"

-

"What do you mean "hunting" for you?" Blades questioned.

"I am Kania's former helper. She dismissed me and is no doubt trying to track me down to kill me before I ruin her plans. She made the mistake of letting me go instead of killing me on the spot. I believe she is now kidnapping everyone who looks slightly similar to me, as she had done to you," Daisuke explained.

"Wait, you're dressed as a –" Blades began.

"She is not stupid, Swordsman. She would think I changed uniforms to hide from her, which I _was _planning to do."

Matt was completely lost. "I don't get it..."

"It's a long story, Matt," Rya sighed. "Maybe we'll explain to you later. We have to get out."

"But it is a shame, for the little Archer will never hear of it."

The quartet whirled around to face the broken door. Khaos stood, grinning, at the remains of the exit. He was blocking their only means of escape.

-

"We're in the Alberta fields!"

Evol did a small victory dance. Ramza happily joined in.

"Oh yeah, baby! We –" Evol was cut short as he stepped on an unnoticed Poring and slipped on it. In the process of falling, a couple of his belongings fell out of his pack. The Poring greedily looted all the fallen contents and began bouncing away.

"You little bitch! Give me back my stuff!" Evol shouted angrily as he summoned his favorite spell. "_Fireball_!"

The Poring practically exploded and the contents it was carrying were covered with a mess of pink blobs.

"No need to get worried over a little Poring!" Skoo laughed.

"The point is we're free, but..." Payon looked back on the ground, hoping to see Rya and Blades appear from the hidden warp portal. "Rya and Blades..."

"If Daisuke led us in to help us, I'm sure he would help those two," Shishkabob said reassuringly. The six looked grimly over the plains of Alberta. Hoping the best to their two companions, they slowly made their way to the docks, where everything had began.


	4. Sacrifices

**Summary:** They worked for an underground organization of bounty hunters. Time after time, they took care of threats to Rune-Midgard. But this time, their target isn't anything of the ordinary; it's a boy who knows the key to the next Ragnarok.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ragnarok Online. :P But the characters in this story belong to my friends and I.

**Author's Note:** I'm back with a revision of The Ragnarok! W00t! There have been some changes (mostly the fight scenes and some dialogue...also the new "Wings Armada" group), so I suggest to those who have read this before read it again. Sorry for the trouble. DX Ah, yes, an important fact: I changed some things just a little concerning the rules of Ragnarok Online. It's not a big change though. Anyways, on with the story! XD

-

**The Ragnarok**

**Chapter Four: Sacrifices**

**-**

Daisuke and Khaos stared menacingly at each other. Matt, Blades, and Rya were frozen in shock. Absolute silence hung in the air. Khaos grinned again. "Kania, Haru, and Naru aren't here. You should be glad."

Daisuke gritted his teeth together. "Get the hell out of our way."

"What's this?" Khaos acted surprised. "Helping the captives? You should know better; Kania would be disappointed in you."

"She doesn't give a shit about me, and I don't give a shit about her either," Daisuke retorted, reaching for his sword hilt. "Now get out of our way."

Khaos unsheathed his sword, which had a deadly glow to it. "Get past me, and maybe I will consider."

Daisuke let out a piercing battle cry before charging head on at Khaos.

-

Miraka sat down grumpily on the docks of Izlude, waiting for the ship to arrive to get her to Alberta.

"Hey, c'mon, chill." Tyler urged, finally catching up to her. He had been following her since she punched him and left.

_Wow, he sure is dedicated in annoying me to death._

"You expect me to _chill_ when my friends are in danger?" Miraka questioned, standing up when she saw the ship in the horizon.

"Well, yeah," Tyler laughed nervously as Miraka gave him a death glare. "Hey, you can't just charge in wherever they are, blinded by your own rage. You might not even find them because you're too stressed over it that you can't think clearly. You wouldn't help them that way."

Miraka stayed silent as his words sunk in. He did have a point after all.

"That's it, just calm down. Everything's going to be just fine." Tyler grinned.

"Thanks..."

"Always welcome."

Tyler joined Miraka in her wait to board the ship; it was already docking. As soon as the sailor let the travelers go ashore, much to Miraka's surprise, she saw Payon and the others leave the cabin, heading out of the ship. "Payon!"

Payon also noticed Miraka. "Miraka! You're safe!"

"Of course I am Payon. I can take care of myself," Miraka grinned, but her grin disappeared as quickly as it came. "I don't see Rya...or Blades either. Did they...did they...?"

"No, they didn't get killed," Payon proceeded to explain to her all the events that had happened, after they had left the ship.

"Why did you let her?" Miraka demanded as soon as Payon had finished giving her the details, while the others cut in to add their own comments.

"You know Rya. She is stubborn as she is caring," Payon sighed.

"And Blades?"

"He'd do anything for the ladies!" Skoo joked.

"Skoo!" Miraka looked disapprovingly at Skoo's comment but couldn't resist a small smile. But she also couldn't hide the pang of sadness in her heart that her two friends were still unsafe.

"Hey, who's the new guy?" Paroid asked as he looked over at Tyler. A grin formed on his mouth. "Is he your boyfriend, Miraka?"

Miraka and Tyler glanced at each other. Simultaneously, they shouted out, "Hell no!"

"Well you know what they say, hate leads to love!" Paroid laughed as he ran away, both Miraka and Tyler pursuing him. Explosions and crowds of people screaming were heard further into Izlude.

"The perfect picture," Evol grinned. "That's something zeny can't buy."

"You can take a picture and buy it, fool." Skoo swatted at the Wizard's head.

"...let me have my fun, for once," Evol groaned. Skoo grinned in triumph.

-

Daisuke summoned fire and blasted it into Khaos from his sword with his left hand. His right arm had been injured by a heavy blow from Khaos' sword from a sword-to-sword battle. Effortlessly, Khaos reflected the attack and the flames bounced back towards Daisuke, who dodged it with ease. However, as Rya, Matt, and Blades jumped out of the fire's way, it scorched the walls and the dry wallpaper went up in flames.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap!" Blades helplessly looked around the room as it, in no time, was engulfed in the ravenous inferno. The three, who weren't fighting, backed up against each other in the middle of the room. Daisuke and Khaos, on the other hand, continued fighting as if nothing happened.

Daisuke dealt a heavy blow to Khaos' stomach with his foot, distracting him while he scorched him successfully with another fire spell. His attack sent Khaos flying out of the door. Daisuke took the chance from his fallen opponent and held Khaos up, pinning him against the wall outside. "Go! Now!"

The three in the middle of the room hesitated but as soon as Blades ran out of the fiery room coughing from the smoke, Rya and Matt followed suit. Daisuke looked satisfied as Blades, Matt and Rya were out of sight and turned back to face Khaos. Khaos merely smirked. "Never turn away from the enemy,"

Daisuke felt something cold run through his body. He looked down and realized Khaos had run his sword through him. He slumped down when Khaos brought out his sword and wiped the blood on Daisuke's cloak. "**_Kania, two of our captives are heading towards the entrance. The little Archer boy is with them as well. The rest, I believe, have already escaped._**"

"**_Alright, Khaos. I'll cut the three off once they get to the entrance. How did they escape?_**"

**"_Daisuke,_" **Khaos spat the name disgustingly while he brutally beat Daisuke's limp body. Feeling satisfied after awhile, he kicked Daisuke's broken body into the flames. "_Frost nova_!_ Frost diver_!"

Khaos did a series of freezing spells and aimed them in the fire-lit room. The flames froze as well as Daisuke's body. "_Ice wall_!"

The room became encaged with ice, forever to be locked away.

"Let's see you escape that, Daisuke."

-

Blades led the way, running as fast as he could. He remembered every single step Daisuke had led them through. "This way! Hurry Rya! Matt!"

After twists and turns, they saw a pillar of light. "We're out!"

All three ran into the warp portal. Blades felt sick after running, but the warp portal only made him feel worse by spinning him around and around. He closed his eyes to find comfort, but as soon as he opened his eyes, his eyes met what he did not want to see. Kania and two men stood in front of them. Kania smiled sweetly and she drew her sword, pressing the cold steel to his neck. Both men mimicked her and pointed their spears to Rya and Matt's necks.

"You're in safe hands," Kania pleasantly said, and in a flash, she knocked Blades out with a violent blow with the hilt of her heavy sword. The two men followed suit and knocked out the other two.

"We'll take them to someplace else," Kania ordered. "Aria is in need of repairing. **_Khaos, if you're still there, put up the traps_**."

The two men nodded as they took hold of the unconscious Archer, Hunter, and Swordsman, warping away with Kania.

-

He was frozen, unable to move.

Trapped in an oasis of ice.

He knew his fate. It pointed to death. But a surge of energy rushed through his dying body. He wasn't about to die that easily. He wouldn't die to _his_ hands.

"_Te...l...e...por...t..._"

Through the clear ice, a body flickered until it completely disappeared. Screams and shocked voices met his ears. With the last ounce of energy he had, he smiled and slipped into unconsciousness.

He had made it to Prontera.

-

Tyler pouted but Miraka snickered. Shishkabob tended to his wounds, containing her laughter. During the chase of Paroid, he had accidentally hit a Thief Bug without knowing it and attracted a giant mob of Thief Bugs. It was a funny sight however, seeing Tyler completely drowned in a mountain of angry Thief Bugs.

"Serves you right! Trying to kill _me_ of all people," Paroid grinned.

"You just shut up and all of Rune-Midgard will be fine," Tyler retorted.

"Oh shut up, you two," Shishkabob sighed. "Stay still Tyler, or your wounds won't heal. Good. _Heal_!"

Tyler's wounds slowly began disappearing as a bright light washed over him. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Soon, they were entering the capital city, Prontera. There, they would have to stock up on supplies for their mission.

"Did you hear? A Wizard boy warped into the middle of the city, almost dead!"

"Yeah! Everyone thinks that a monster attacked him. He won't say anything, but the Priests know he's pretty experienced in monster killing; he brought in a few bounties before. But now everyone is worried that the monsters have begun to become stronger and are planning to wipe out the human population! It's like the start of the Ragnarok or something!"

"Impossible! Maybe the boy just, uh...tripped?"

"Tripped, with wounds like those? That's completely insane!"

Paroid's eyes narrowed. "Wizard boy that teleports? My gut tells me that that is not right."

"Daisuke..." Payon breathed. "That means...something happened. Rya and Blades were with him!"

Payon ran towards the duo of Archers talking amongst themselves. "Do you know where the boy is? He is a friend of ours."

"Friend of yours? Where were _you_ when he was attacked? Ran away, you coward?" One of the Archer boys scoffed rudely.

"He's at the church, the Priests have healed him to almost full health but won't let him leave until he talks, which he won't," His friend answered.

"Thank you," Payon said dully, ignoring the other boy's comments.

"He's at the church. We have some questioning to do," Payon acknowledged the rest of the crew as he ran towards the church, everyone trailing behind him.

Bursting into the church and startling the Priests, Payon roared, "Daisuke! DAISUKE WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"

An elderly Priest, who seemed to be in charge of the church, made a "shh" sound and put his finger to his lips. "Quiet boy, there are people resting. Hmm, Daisuke is it? There is only one person whose name we do not have registered. Is that the name of the Wizard boy?"

Payon nodded as the rest of the crew ran into the church. "Yes."

"Friend of yours? Perhaps you will have more luck than us talking to him," The Priest said as he ushered Payon to where Daisuke was. Paroid looked at the others and shrugged, following Payon.

"Here we are. He has nearly recovered from his wounds, but he will not talk to us about what happened. Not even his name," The Priest said quietly as he opened a door.

Payon entered the room. Daisuke sat up against two pillows on the bed. His Wizard uniform lay torn and bloodied on a chair nearby. Bandages covered his stomach, ribcage and arms, and a cast was wrapped tightly around his right arm. It seemed that the Priests could not finish healing him for some strange, unknown reason. Daisuke turned from the window. "You."

"Me," Payon glowered. "What happened to Rya and Blades; they were with you."

"They ran off. Then Khaos ran his blade through me." Daisuke said monotonously as he turned to face the window again.

"What? Khaos?!" Payon growled.

"Yes. Why so surprised, Knight?" Daisuke questioned. "Kania left him in order, did you not know?"

"I did. But I thought he was –" Payon began.

"– having a competition with Miraka? She escaped and he came back early," Daisuke finished.

"How did you know he was competing with her?!" Payon narrowed his eyes at Daisuke. "I thought you were dismissed from Kania's order!"

"I have my sources."

"Payon!"

Seven teenagers burst into the room, the Priest scolding them from behind.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Skoo demanded. "And Rya! And Blades!"

"Where are they?" Shishkabob questioned.

"Quiet in there! The boy needs rest!" The Priest yelled from the other side of the closed door.

"What we need is an explanation," Payon said.

"Especially the part about Kania kidnapping us, and where Blades and Rya are," Evol added.

"And what happened," Shishkabob reminded.

Daisuke remained motionless as he looked up to the group. "Then listen carefully and do not interrupt me."

-

"Ugh..."

Blades groaned loudly as he flipped over on his stomach, feeling the coldness of snow touch his face.

"Wait...snow?"

Blades pried his eyes open and blinked a couple of times. Indeed, the place he was in was snowing. And there was only one place he knew that snowed at this time of the year.

"Lutie..."

-

"Do you know of the Ragnarok?" Daisuke asked.

The group shot quick glances at each other, confused.

"No, we don't." Payon answered.

"Were you not told about it? Even when you became the classes you chose, or even as a myth from your parents?" Daisuke raised an eyebrow as the group shook their heads, after glancing at each other for an explanation.

"Odd. I will explain to you briefly about it then," Daisuke grumbled. "The Ragnarok is a myth of when the gods fall, and chaos will be inflicted among everyone in Rune-Midgard. It was said only the humans will survive, but everywhere would be destroyed and communication scarce."

"Okay, but what does this have to do with Kania kidnapping us specifically?" Paroid questioned. "She only told us that she wanted us to help her cause 'the end of the world', but not _why _or _how_. I still don't see why she chose us. We're just kids!"

"Kania believed the coming of the Ragnarok, and was determined to make it come true since she was but a child, but with one change. She wanted all the humans except for her loyal followers, or the most powerful ones, to die, so she could rebuild Rune-Midgard to her liking. She kidnapped you, because she sought out for the strongest group in Rune-Midgard to help her in her plans."

"Hold it buddy, how can _we_ be the strongest group? I mean, come on! We are just 14 year olds! There are probably hundreds of older men and women that are way stronger," Ramza objected. "And she probably has some strong friends right? She's in about her late teens or early twenties so there should be plenty of older people who are stronger than us."

"She had no friends," Daisuke bluntly stated, and moved on. "Kania knew that the oldest and strongest people would die and grow weak faster. She thought of fresh teenagers that would grow to be strong and have many more years to live and have many years in them to serve her. And that group happened to be yours."

"So _that's_ the reason Kania kidnapped us?" Evol gawked.

"Yes."

"Impossible!"

Everyone turned to face the foreign voice at the door.

-

"Rya, Matt," Blades shook each of them in turn. "Aw, c'mon just wake up already!"

A groan emitted from Rya as she turned her back to him.

"About time!" Blades shook his head with a sigh. "No! Don't go back to sleep! We're in Lutie!"

Blades rolled Rya on her back, took a handful of snow, and gave her a face wash. "UP!"

Instead of shock or a scream as Blades had predicted, Rya calmly brushed off the snow from her face, her eyes glowing dimly of red.

"W...what? Rya? Are you okay?" Blades stuttered as Rya stood up, as her eyes glowed brighter. "Sorry! I didn't mean it! Rya?"

Rya's image became distorted as Blades stuttered, apology after another.

"Rya?!"

The distorted image of Rya flickered for a second and vanished. Instead, someone else replaced her.

A Doppleganger.

"What the hell?" Blades blinked as Matt's body vanished, but nothing replaced him. He was gone. "Rya? Matt?"

The Doppleganger charged at Blades and pinned him down. Its eyes glowed again and flickered into the image of Kania. Blades struggled but the Doppleganger, now Kania, had an iron grip and was not about to let go.

Blades yelled out the first thing that came to his mind.

"RRRAAAPPPEEEEE!"

_Splat. _

Rya threw a snowball at Blades' screaming figure. Spluttering, he sat up with a jolt. "Where's he?!"

"So you were being raped by a guy?" Rya stifled a laugh.

"What...?" Blades inhaled deeply.

"You screamed "rape" while you were unconscious," Rya couldn't contain herself and began laughing uncontrollably.

"So that was all a dream? You mean we're not in Lutie?" Blades eagerly asked. He was disappointed when he saw snow gently falling down.

"We're in Lutie alright...and this particular place seems deserted. Doesn't look like anyone's been here for quite awhile."

Blades shook off the layer of snow that covered him while he was unconscious and took a good look at his surroundings. A sturdy fence surrounded them, and everywhere else was covered in untouched snow. "A fence? Why didn't you just jump over it?"

"I can't. An invisible force prevents us from getting out," Rya explained, checking on Matt. "He's still unconscious. Those spearmen must've hit him hard."

"Invisible force my ass," Blades stood up and ran towards the fence, jumped, and bounced back into the snow as if he hit a wall. "Ow..."

"See? It just bounces you back..."

Blades groaned as he rubbed his head. And then it clicked. "Rya, do you have any fly or butterfly wings? I'm all out."

Rya mumbled something and slung her bag from her back onto her lap and rummaged through it. "I've got...two butterfly wings. I used my last fly wing a few days ago."

"Two..."

There were three of them.

"Matt definitely goes," Rya said, Blades nodding in agreement.

"Ladies first," Blades grinned. "I'll stay, you go for help."

"Who decided that?"

"What – hey!"

Rya shoved a butterfly wing into Blades' hands and before he knew it, he was engulfed in a pillar of light, being sent to Prontera.

"Sorry, but I'm staying, Blades. You'll be able to find reinforcements faster than I can."

Looking over to Matt, she brushed away the blanket of snow covering him. "You're going back to your family where it's safe..."

Rya placed the last butterfly wing in his hand and a pillar of light engulfed him, sending him to Prontera.

-

Blades screamed at the top of his lungs. _What the hell is she thinking?! I should stay! _

The whirling stopped as he arrived in an alley in Prontera. Quickly, he clicked a few buttons and was instantly yelling at Rya. "**Rya! RYA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!**"

There was no answer.


	5. Lutie

**Summary:** They worked for an underground organization of bounty hunters. Time after time, they took care of threats to Rune-Midgard. But this time, their target isn't anything of the ordinary; it's a boy who knows the key to the next Ragnarok.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Ragnarok Online. :P But the characters in this story belong to my friends and I.

**Author's Note:** I'm back with a revision of The Ragnarok! W00t! There have been some changes (mostly the fight scenes and some dialogue...also the new "Wings Armada" group), so I suggest to those who have read this before read it again. Sorry for the trouble. DX Ah, yes, an important fact: I changed some things just a little concerning the rules of Ragnarok Online. It's not a big change though. Anyways, on with the story! XD (Yay for copy and paste xD).

I'm working on the 6th chapter...so for those who have read this before, sorry about the slow/noupdates!

Also, one note, in case people are confused: the Ragnarok I'm talking about in my story is **loosely based** on the actual legend.

-

**The Ragnarok**

**Chapter Five: Lutie**

**-**

Blades slammed his fist into the alley wall in anger. He should've seen it coming; Rya always had a knack to sacrifice herself in a way or another. She was always getting hurt, caring for others.

Blades blamed it on himself over and over again.

He winced; he noticed a small stream of blood trickling down his hand, still balled in a fist. He didn't relatively care; he could always go to the church to get it patched up. Glumly, he made his way out of the alley until he caught sight a bright light out of the corner of his eye. Matt had arrived in Prontera, still unconscious.

"Damn, you're still out. How hard did they hit you?" Blades mumbled to no one in particular and proceeded to sling Matt over his shoulder. Then he began to head to the church.

-

They turned to face an older man in his forties. "I am sorry to have been eavesdropping on you, but when I passed by hearing a voice say "Ragnarok" I had to listen."

"Alright, so what's the deal with saying "impossible"?" Payon asked.

The man took a deep breath.

"It's already happened before."

-

"Blades?"

Blades turned, expecting to see Rya grinning while saying "You got punk'd!", and explain that she had pulled a joke and had another butterfly wing to warp back to Prontera. Instead, he came face to face with a young blue-haired Kafra that he had befriended a year ago.

"Misha?"

"Blades, what happened?" The Kafra exclaimed frantically as she rushed to check on Matt, a worried look in her eyes. "The poor guy! You didn't beat him up, did you?"

"No, Mish," Blades grumbled, shifting slightly to move Matt from Misha. "I'm in a rush; maybe I'll catch ya later."

"But –"

"Mish, this is important. I'm sorry," Blades adjusted Matt's body on his shoulder and continued to walk towards the church. Misha looked dejectedly at Blades' back before people asking for transportation surrounded her.

-

"No, that impossible," Paroid narrowed his eyes at the older man.

"It's true lad. Rune-Midgard was lucky to have pulled through the last Ragnarok," The man said. "Do you not know? Or has everyone just kept the truth away from you?"

"But why?" Payon questioned. "Why would anyone keep that away from us?"

"That I do not know."

"How?" Skoo asked.

"That remains a mystery," Daisuke answered. "The records were wiped, the names lost. All we know is that it has happened before."

"So why don't people care?" Shishkabob softly asked.

"They don't believe it," Daisuke gave an eerie laugh. "What fools..."

A moment of silence slipped into the room. Payon finally broke it. "But how did Kania know how to trigger the Ragnarok?"

"A smart lady she is," Daisuke began slowly, mumbling slightly. "She studied upon years on old books, gathering what little information she could and then she found it. In the Pyramids when the angel's song is heard, the pieces of Ymir must be assembled and one hundred human sacrifices must be made, and the one who began the Ragnarok must be sacrificed along with them. And then the forces of the Ragnarok will ravage the land and all will be lost."

"But then wouldn't Kania have to be sacrificed as well? She is gonna begin the Ragnarok but then that goes against her wishes as to ruling Rune-Midgard..." Miraka said, confused. "And how can we survive?"

"Khaos will begin the Ragnarok. He is willing to sacrifice himself for Kania's rule over Rune-Midgard. Kania is ready to strike a deal with the Ragnarok forces...how they will agree, I do not know."

By the time Daisuke finished, he was twitching.

"Daisuke? Are you okay?" Shishkabob asked; taking a step back as Daisuke shook even harder.

"The prophesy of the Ragnarok will be done. It is the will of Rune-Midgard. The prophesy of the Ragnarok will be done. It is the will of Rune-Midgard..." Daisuke was near hysterics as the Priests burst in upon hearing Daisuke's outburst.

"THE PROPHESY OF THE RAGNAROK WILL BE DONE!"

The crew was ushered out as the door slammed shut.

"Whoa, what was that all about?" Payon looked for answers among his friends, but none could think of any explanation.

-

Silence.

It was unordinary for Lutie to be this quiet, for people often got lost in the storms during their first visits. It was also quite unordinary for a place in all of Rune-Midgard to have not been passed by before – no one had even passed by the particular place Rya was trapped in. What was going on?

"How silly of me, forgetting about those butterfly wings," A familiar sweet voice broke in through the silence. "Too bad on their part. I simply must round the little sheep up again."

Kania strode into the scene with Haru and Naru, with the same sickeningly sweet smile that seemed to be plastered on permanently. "Ah, I see the cute Swordsman left the Huntress behind?"

"..."

"Hm, the quiet one. You must be Rya," Kania frowned, for possibly the first time she had met her, seeing no display of emotion on Rya's facial features. "Or perhaps, you'd rather be called by your real name, _Ayuna_."

Rya glared at Kania, whose frown was replaced by her usual smile. _How did she know that? I have never told a soul, not even Miraka..._

Kania paused before continuing, after pondering for a moment. "Hmm, I shall have my Wizard keep an eye on you."

"Daisuke?" Rya spoke up, remembering that Daisuke was in a Wizard uniform. "You've dismissed him."

Kania's face lit up, her lips forming a smile once again. "But that is not all the men I have." She laughed, continuing. "Haru and Naru, watch her until the Wizard is notified. Perhaps this will keep you busy while you wait, _Ayuna_."

Rya sent a fixed stare at Kania as she stressed her knowledge of her true name. Kania merely let out another timid laugh and dropped a thick leather-bound book into the force field Rya was in. "Things can go in, but cannot go out. You will be trapped here until I give your leave."

Kania turned a heel and walked a short distance before she unexpectedly disappeared.

_But you forget about butterfly wings as well as fly wings, again_. Rya sneered in her mind. _I thought you would be smarter then that, fool._

Curiously, Rya peered at the fine gold text of the leather-bound book that Kania had left her.

_"The Ownage Crew" _

Rya froze, startled. The Ownage Crew was her Party's name. Nervously, she turned the cover over and her jaw dropped.

_"**The Ownage Crew.** _

_Consisting of nine members with varied Classes, this Party makes up the strongest beginner team of Rune-Midgard. Mostly made up of Swordsman, soon to be Knights, they have every Base Class, and are mostly Second Classes as of now. _

_"The Ownage Crew" is also the youngest subdivision of the Underground Organization "Wings Armada" of bounty hunters led by Spades. _

**_The Party Members_**_  
i) Payon – Knight (Leader)  
ii) Paroid – Swordsman  
iii) Blades – Swordsman  
iv) Ramza – Swordsman  
v) Skoo – Blacksmith  
vi) Ayuna (Rya) – Huntress  
vii) Miraka – Thief  
viii) Christy (Shishkabob) – Priestess  
ix) Evol – Wizard" _

Rya's heart skipped a beat as she read through the first page. Quickly, she turned the page to "i".

_Page i. _

_"**"The Leader Knight: Payon" **_

_Name: Payon _

_Nickname: None _

_Sex: Male _

_Age: 14 _

_Birthday: November 20 _

_Birthplace: Prontera _

_Class: Knight _

_Weapon: Sword – Flamberge _

_Siblings: Iris – Sister – Age 9 _

_Appearance: Red spiky hair; average build; slightly muscular; tall. _

_Additional Information: Leader of "The Ownage Crew". Loves food; is sometimes quiet. He is Paroid's (see page ii) best friend. He is the strongest member of the party, though one of the youngest. Has a father-son relationship with Spades." _

There was a full body picture of Payon below the text, and a headshot above all the text. Rya quickly flipped to the second page.

_Page ii. _

_"**"The Swordsman: Paroid" **_

_Name: Paroid _

_Nickname: Roid (or "Roidy") (he dislikes his nickname) _

_Sex: Male _

_Age: 14 _

_Birthday: March 23 _

_Birthplace: Prontera _

_Class: Swordsman _

_Weapon: Sword – Claymore _

_Siblings: None _

_Appearance: Light brown hair (slightly spiky), short and scrawny. _

_Additional Information: Payon's (see page i) best friend. Sarcastic. Second oldest. Out-going; talkative; stubborn." _

She stopped reading.

_Holy shit. _

-

"What's going on?" Paroid demanded as one of the men inside Daisuke's now silent room appeared through the doorway. They had been ushered to a different room, which nobody inhabited.

"He's cracked. Something must have happened to him while he was being beat up," The man shook his head sadly. "The poor lad."

"Cracked? What do you mean?" Paroid demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"He's gone a little..." The man cleared his throat. "_Off the wall_, let's say. We've put him to sleep at the moment but the spell won't last too long. He's got quite the resistance..."

The man mumbled to himself as he began to walk away.

"Sounds like Daisuke's gone back to his old self," Paroid muttered bitterly. "Was he acting all along?! What is he trying to play at?!"

"But..." Shishkabob started, but stopped, finding no positive remark.

"Screw him!" Paroid angrily yelled, bashing the church wall with his fist.

"Stop this!" The Priest scolded when he saw the frustrated group. "There are people resting, and people in need to be cared for. If you _must_ cause this entire ruckus, please do so outside!"

"That's right," Paroid lashed out at the Priest. "We'll cause a riot outside, and hope your god damn church gets run over by it!"

A bloodied fist came in contact with Paroid's head. Everyone turned, seeing Blades glaring at them, with a small Archer boy slung over his shoulder. "Give it a rest, Roid; it's not a good thing to piss off the Priest. Mr. Priest, this little guy needs a place to stay. And after he's rested, could you find his parents?"

The Priest brushed past the group to Blades, and peered at Matt. "He looks quite familiar. Much like that other Daisuke boy..."

"You think they can be related?" Payon asked all of a sudden.

Silence.

"No, it does not seem to be," The Priest shook his head. "I'll have Prontera informed of him. What is his name?"

"Matt. He hasn't given me a surname," Blades replied, putting Matt in the Priest's care.

"Thank you, lad. Now off with you lot, you've caused enough noise for the day," The Priest walked away with Matt in his arms.

"Well, Blades," Paroid coughed, rubbing the back of his head. "What's happened to Rya?"

"Same old sacrificial Rya..." Blades sighed, putting his hands to his head.

-

Rya sat silently in the cool snow, flipping the pages of the book. It was filled with pictures and information, such as how they met. It was an eerie experience, reading the book. It had almost been completely accurate. Rya pondered on how they were able to get the information. Slowly, she turned it back to the page with her own information.

_Page vi. _

_"**"The Huntress: Ayuna" **_

_Name: Ayuna (Rya) _

_Nickname: None _

_Sex: Female _

_Age: 14 _

_Birthday: August 15 _

_Birthplace: Payon _

_Class: Hunter _

_Weapon: Bow – Gakkung _

_Siblings: Shay - Brother – Age 16; Rya – Deceased Sister – Died at age 16, would be 24 presently _

_Appearance: Red shoulder length hair; scrawny; tall. _

_Additional Information: Usually silent and shy. Violent when provoked. Best friend of Miraka (see page vii). Real name is Ayuna, but goes by Rya as her father renamed her after her sister's death." _

"How...?" Rya mumbled to herself, flipping the pages until it reached the photo area. Pictures of their childhood were already included, as well as many profile shots. Were they being stalked? How did they never notice people following or taking pictures of them? How did they get all the exact details and moments they had? Why were they being analyzed? Why did Kania reveal it to her? Why on Rune-Midgard was there a book about them?

There were so many questions, but so little answers...

-

The crew lingered around a couple benches outside of the church. All had been completely deep in thought.

"One hundred sacrifices? How would they be able to gather so many people? I doubt she could have one hundred followers...there would be a hundred people missing!" Paroid narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. "Unless..."

"Of course! They must've kept the kidnapped ones! There are still many kids missing from what I read in the newspapers!" Shishkabob exclaimed. "So Daisuke was lying after all...he never saved all the victims..."

"Partially. He still told us valuable information..." Payon murmured, staring hard at the dirt ground. "And the pieces of Ymir? I thought they were just a legend..."

"Yeah, all those tales about greedy people seeking them out," Shishkabob nodded. "Maybe they are real after all...but where to find them, and how to prevent Kania from getting them?"

"But what about Matt?" Blades questioned from the bench, shaking his leg out of habit.

"I don't know...perhaps he was just a decoy?" Miraka thoughtfully suggested.

"Or something else," Tyler butted in. "There's something wrong with that kid..."

"You might hate me for this but..." Miraka brought out a pouch from her pocket and tossed it at Payon. "It's Daisuke's. I kinda..."borrowed" it. I thought it might give some clues."

Paroid blinked. "Whoa! Why be sorry?"

"Well I _am_ invading someone's privacy, possibly...and taking things that aren't mine..."

"Nicely done!" Paroid cheered. "That's what a Thief is for!"

Miraka gave a sheepish grin and Payon began to search through the pouch for any possible clues or notes of some sort. "Well...that's thirty thousand zeny...a key...another key...a photo...a few gems and herbs...about a dozen white potions...that's about it."

"Not much help after all..." Miraka sighed. "Now I'm feeling guilty..."

"It's alright Miraka," Paroid reassured. "Hey, pass me that picture."

Carelessly, Payon chucked the photo at Paroid without giving a second glance.

"Whoa, is it just me or is this guy some pedophile or stalker?" Paroid exclaimed, holding back a fit of laughter. "Isn't this the little guy Blades rescued?"

Paroid flashed the photo around. Payon's eyes snapped open. Indeed, it was a picture of Matt in an Archer uniform. "What the hell would he have to do with Matt?!"

"Oh wait, there's writing on the back too," Paroid raised his eyebrows curiously. ""_My dear son Daisuke – Age 10._" Ew, what the hell?"

Payon's eyes widened even more. "That means Matt...how...what...?"

Blades' mind wandered to his dream in Lutie. His heart skipped a beat when his thoughts came crashing together. "Then...Matt's really a Doppleganger that took the form of Daisuke's younger self to toy around with us!"

-

Kania landed gracefully on her feet as she exited the warp portal. Dusting herself off, she looked about her surroundings and gave a satisfied look: she had gotten into the room where they held Daisuke. Quietly, she muttered a quick incantation, and aimed it at Daisuke. A light green light entered his head and disappeared. Quickly saying another incantation, a blue light entered his body and disappeared, and her last incantation produced a red light that entered his head.

"Daisuke. Wake up," Kania softly said, lightly kissing his forehead. She smiled as he groggily opened an eye. He had proved to be useful in firepower and tactics, so she decided against killing him. Instead, she erased his memory. He had no recollection of the things he had said or done before that day where he and Kania made the first step to capturing the Ownage Crew.

Kania also suppressed his mental state with a spell, a state that he happened to slip into irregularly. The after effects of his mental state often caused him to forget a few details, and it fortunately happened to make Daisuke forget an important detail – where Kania kept most of her captives. Thus she also planted 'Matt' a room to confuse Daisuke, as she knew that if he were to think too much in a situation; his mental state would creep in.

"We will commence capturing the crew today. You were ambushed by a Doppleganger and were knocked unconscious. Will you be alright?" Kania sweetly asked.

"I'll be fine..."

"Good. I'll fetch Mattie and we'll be off," Kania nodded as she walked out the door.

-

Blades burst through the church doors, with the crew and Tyler hot on his trail. "Matt! Where is Matt?!"

"Hush now, will you?!" The Priest scolded them angrily. "How many times –"

"This is important! There's a Doppleganger in the church!" Evol snapped.

"Ridiculous! How could –"

"Matt!" Blades exclaimed impatiently.

"If you wanted to see the boy, you could've just asked directly," The Priest scolded, not getting the message. "Matt's nine doors down the hallway to the right."

Blades charged down the hall, bursting into the room. "MATT!"

But the Doppleganger was already gone.

-

With nothing to do, Rya laid flat on her back staring at the empty sky. Countless times, she had tried to contact her friends, but failed. _Maybe there is no connection to the outside world from this particular place in Lutie..._

"You may go," A familiar masculine voice suddenly said. "Kania's given me orders to watch over her."

"Kania has not given us further commands. We will stay." Haru and Naru answered coldly in unison.

Abruptly, Rya sat up, recognizing the voice.

Cat ears. Pitch-black, cat ears.

"...Daiken...?"

The spiky redheaded Wizard refused to look her in the eye.

_Of course!_ Rya bit her lip in anger. Daiken was the reason why Kania had been able to head off Blades, Matt and herself when they had been trying to escape.

_"Too late for what?" _

_"My friends." _

_"You lost them?" _

_"No, they've been..." _

_"Kidnapped?" _

_"Why would you think that?" _

_"Faces are easy to read. You were debating with yourself whether or not you could trust me; your sudden distant expression gave that off. Your eyes told me about the kidnapping part." _

_"I see...So what brings you here? Not many people travel to __Alberta__ often." _

_"I'm on the same path as you are. My brother has gone missing." _

_"Oh, I'm sorry. Well maybe you can come with us; maybe you can find him that way. My party and I are going...well, on a rescue mission you can say, to get our friends back." _

_"That is not needed. I can manage on my own." _

_"Alright then." _

He was the one who had informed Kania that they were on a "rescue" mission. Her before thoughts had been correct; he was a spy after all.

"You bastard."

"You are in no condition to speak to us," Naru jeered warningly.

"Says who?" Rya defiantly glared into his eyes.

"Says me."

"Bite me."

In an instant, Naru's spear was pointed threateningly at her neck. "If you wish, the spear will do so."

"Piss off Naru," Daiken snapped, irritated. "We are to harm none of the crew."

"She asked for it."

"Look, just leave already. I can handle this myself. I'll see to it that Kania will know where you have gone. You are dismissed for the day!"

"Just because your brother is her favourite, doesn't mean you get the same privileges," Haru snorted.

_Brother?_ Rya blinked, but dismissed the thought. _That's not important right now..._

"_Haru and Naru, watch her until the Wizard is notified,_" Rya said, in a mocking tone of Kania. "Isn't that what she said? Now get the hell out."

_Anything...anything to rid of those two bastards._ Rya would rather deal with just Daiken, then Haru and Naru, who would have killed her even if it were against Kania's orders.

"Is that what Kania said?" Daiken raised an eyebrow, glancing at Rya. "If that is so, leave. They are, after all, Kania's orders."

"The Huntress lies."

Rya's temper flared. "The hell! You can't prove that!"

"Neither can you prove what Kania has said," Naru coldly said. "The prisoner always lies, to deceive the ones guarding them."

A few explosions and yells diverted their attention.

"Looks like her friends came to rescue her," Haru narrowed his eyes to the distance. "The must've run into some demons. And you thought you could handle this yourself, Daiken?"

Daiken looked defiantly at the spearman.

"Very well. You will stay to guard the girl. We will handle these pests ourselves."

-

"Damn it," Paroid wiped the blood trickling from his mouth as he recovered from the Garm's attack. "_Bash_!"

"_Jupitel Thunder_!" Evol's attack entwined with Paroid's.

Their attack hit straight on, but was not enough to bring down the Garm.

"_Bowling Bash_!" Payon charged forwards at the demon as Blades, Ramza and Paroid got ready to attack. _Wham_! A direct hit from Payon threw the demon towards the trio of waiting Swordsmen, Bashing at the same time.

"_Adrenaline Rush_!" Skoo enchanted the rest of the crew with speed.

Miraka swiftly attacked with her stilettos at twice her speed with Skoo at her side, slamming his axe down repeatedly into the Garm's back. Shishkabob chanted spells to cure her teammates, but joined in whenever she could, swinging her mace into the Garm's jaw, hearing a satisfying _crack_.

Suddenly, the Garm reared its head back and howled. A dozen Sasquatch minions appeared out of thin area, aiding the Garm.

"Shit!" Evol cursed as he narrowly avoided a Sasquatch slamming him into the ground.

"_Hammer Fall_!" Skoo slammed his axe into the ground, stunning a few of the Sasquatches.

Miraka began beating down the nearest Sasquatch with Shishkabob backing her up. The Swordsmen and Knight were busy hacking away at the fierce Garm.

"_Jupitel Thunder_!" Evol charged up another attack at the Garm as Skoo took care of a Sasquatch that was about to attack him. Payon, Paroid, Ramza and Blades ran after the Garm, hacking at it every chance they had.

"_Cart Revolution_!" With renewed strength, Skoo picked up his cart (that he had previously rented while they were in Prontera) and bashed a Sasquatch, clearing the Swordsmen's way.

"_Bowling Bash_!" Another direct hit came from Payon.

Miraka held her ground, hacking away at the remaining Sasquatch that the Garm had summoned.

"_Firewall_!" Evol brought up a firewall just in time, as the Garm launched itself at Ramza.

"Thanks, Evol!"

Rounding around the firewall, Skoo attacked again. "_Mammonite_!"

Zeny poured everywhere as Skoo rammed his axe into the Garm's face.

"Alright, time for me to shine! Back me up guys! _Lord of Vermilion_!" Evol charged up his strongest attack as thunderbolts crashed down onto the enemy. Snow splattered everywhere as the entire party got covered from head to toe.

"Thanks a lot," Paroid dryly said, wiping the snow from his eyes. The Sasquatch were now completely gone, and the Garm lay in the snow unmoving.

Skoo stood up, to check if the demon was dead yet. "I think it's – AGGH!"

Skoo yelled in pain as the Garm reared up suddenly and charged at him head on. He felt white hot searing pain as he felt the muscles and flesh on his shoulder being torn by the fangs of the demon.

"Skoo!" Shishkabob cried out.

Flinching in pain, Skoo reared back his uninjured arm and slammed his axe against the beast. In an instant, the whole crew was on the demon, screaming spells and swinging weapons, and no sooner was the creature dead.

"Heal!" Shishkabob put her hand on Skoo's bloodied shoulder, causing him to wince. Slowly, the flesh began to mend back into its original health. "There, it might be sore for a bit though."

"Thanks," Skoo grinned, stretching out his healed shoulder. "Damn, Blades, are you sure this is where Rya is? There's nothing but pure snow and that thing!"

"I'm sure," Blades vigorously paced around the area. "It has to be here! It was a deserted area..."

"Lutie itself is a deserted area," Paroid interrupted.

"...and the most deserted place I can think of in Lutie is where that Garm lurks!" Blades finished, ignoring Paroid.

"And you are correct, Swordsman," Haru stepped into the scene, his spear in hand. "Again you will join her, as well as the others."

"You wish," Paroid snapped. "Where's Rya?!"

"You will join her soon..."

"Don't piss me off," Payon growled. "Where's Rya."

"Up your ass," Naru barked. "Now follow obediently, or your safety will be in question."

"Now really, I wouldn't want to join Rya up Payon's ass," Skoo laughed as he joked around, even in the tense situation they were in.

"Skoo," Blades warned.

"I don't think so," Payon glared at the twin Spearmen. "None of us are going quietly."

"Payon...are you sure this is a good idea?" Paroid laughed uneasily, gripping the hilt of his sword. Silence was his answer.

It came down to a staring contest between the Ownage Crew and the twin Spearmen. Each individual gripped his or her weapon tightly, waiting for the other to make the first move. Neither side moved a muscle.

"You won't be able to talk when we're done with you."

The Spearmen sprung into action.

-

The clashing of metal and explosions were heard off into the distance. Screams were mixed in with all the noise.

"Your friends don't stand a chance against them. Why do they bother?" Daiken questioned.

"Go ask them," Rya retorted.

"Look, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Telling Kania about your plans."

"..."

"Odd, isn't it?" Daiken gave a bitter smile. "Me, the enemy, apologizing?"

Rya remained silent.

"I'm sorry. Honest."

"Right..."

She wasn't about to trust him that easily.

-

Ramza made another wild charge at Naru, swinging around his sword ruthlessly as Naru dodged him, running towards the opposite direction. "Bastard, come back!"

Naru had to be the toughest person he had ever fought. He was fast, _too_ fast for his own good. And the bulky armor Ramza had to wear just had to slow him down. If only they had back up...

"Hey!" A familiar voice yelled. "_Endure_!"

"There's only one guy I know that recklessly uses Endure whenever he can," Ramza spun around and saw his childhood friend's sudden appearance, a spiky brown-haired Crusader. "Furia!"

The Crusader cast a grin as he sped down the snow hill at the Spearman.

"He's a lot stronger than you think!" Ramza yelled a warning; Furia, however, lashed at Naru anyways. Ramza groaned and rushed in to help Furia.

"_HOLY CROSS_!"

Naru jumped, avoiding Furia's quick attack and swung his spear in response. Furia ducked, and Ramza, coming in at the wrong time, heard a loud crack as Naru's spear came in contact with his jaw.

"Ramza!"

Naru turned on the distracted Furia, flattening him to the ground with a heavy blow to the head. However, Skoo nailed Naru just as hard in the back while he was occupied. Naru barked angrily and rapidly jabbed his spear at Skoo.

"_Fire pillar_!" Evol yelled, throwing out a blue gem at Haru as it erupted into flames.

Shishkabob kneeled on the ground, casting spell after spell, protecting her teammates. Quickly, she rushed to Ramza and Furia, healing them.

"Thanks, Shish," Ramza thanked, rubbing his sore jaw. "Yo, Furia, what are you doing here?"

"Akito warped me here 'cause I pissed him off," The usually quiet Crusader retorted. "Looks like I came in the wrong time."

"Akito? Ugh, questions later," Ramza muttered, rushing back in to help Skoo.

"_Bowling Bash_!" Payon charged at Haru, who dodged cleanly.

"_Bash_!" Paroid swung his sword while Haru dodged Payon's attack, hitting him straight on.

"Foolish humans," Haru snarled as he counterattacked, nailing Paroid in the chest. He lashed out behind him as he felt a light tap to his back, stabbing Shishkabob in the forearm. She cried out in pain, but with strength and determination she swung her mace at Haru, distracting him, and yelled, "_Warp Portal_!"

Haru's eyes widened in shock as a pillar of light swallowed him up, taking him away.

"Haru!" Naru growled. In a fit, he shoved Ramza out of the way, charging at Shishkabob as the warp portal died away. "Stupid brat!"

Instantly, everyone was upon Naru, yelling and attacking, defending their Priestess. In a roar of rage, Naru threw them all off and sped away.

Right to where Rya and Daiken were.

"Hey, he's retreating!" Paroid exclaimed, as Shishkabob healed her arm, receiving praises at the same time.

"After him!" Payon ordered.

-

Rya's head jerked up when she heard loud cursing; Naru's figure was growing clearer from the distance.

"Shit," Daiken growled in annoyance before he jumped over the fence to Rya's side.

"Hey, what the–?!" He grabbed her in a chokehold, throwing down a blue gem while yelling out, "_Warp Portal_!"

Light engulfed the two as Naru skidded to a stop beside the now empty "prison". "That fucktard..."

He turned as he saw the small army of the Ownage Crew come nearer.

"Your friend has gone, the Wizard has taken her away," He laughed coldly.

"What?!" Miraka narrowed her eyes. "Where the hell is she now!"

"I don't know," Naru gave them a satisfied smile.

The words echoed in their heads.

Rya was gone, again.


End file.
